We have now been in Belgium for 4-1/2 months! Wow, the time is flying by. The girls have been in school for a few weeks and are loving it! The school has been such a great way for us to feel like we are really building a life here. They have had Welcome Bar-B-Ques, Coffees, A Helpful Hints For Living in Belgium class, and the typical Open House night to meet their teachers. I have tried to attend everything that has been offered in an effort to feel more connected and know exactly what is happening at school. At the same time I have had to make decisions regarding Isabella's school situation. I must say, the situation with Isabella going to school has been the number one stress point for me in these past few weeks.
Most of you already know that we originally enrolled Isabella in the local Flemish school that was close to our house. I didn't trust my instincts when I felt uncomfortable during registration and pushed through and let her start school as scheduled. I thought that my misgivings were just my "mommy" feelings about sending my youngest child off to school for the first time. It was not. With the two older girls getting out of school at 3:35pm and Isabella getting out at about the same time it was a juggling act to say the least. Isabella's school offered after-care, called the garderie. I would pick up Elena and Adriana and then drive the thirty minutes over to get Isabella. On her first day of school I arrived about 20-30 minutes after her regular class ended and she was sent to the "garderie". My worst scenario happened. I went through the gate to find Isabella sobbing. It just broke my heart. This is not usual for her, and when I tried to get the attention of the lady in charge, she was not very friendly. I asked her how long Isabella had been crying and she just didn't know, and seemed not to care. She finally said, "well, she has been crying since I arrived at four o'clock (it was 4:20). I just left and put Isabella in the car. When I started to drive off she said, "mommy, I can't find my sandwich in my lunch box". I said, "I didn't pack you a sandwich, only snacks. You were supposed to have a hot lunch at school, didn't you buy a lunch at school"? She said, "no". I asked her if she had any lunch at all and she said no! I couldn't believe that they didn't even make sure that she had lunch. I was furious, she is only four and you would think that would be a priority on the first day to help four year olds get their lunch. I called Stig and he went right over to the school where they were dealing with a more important disaster and asked him to return the next day for a meeting. He went in the next morning as he took Isabella to school. They merely apologized and said that we had not filled out the paper requesting lunch. We specifically asked on the first day what we were supposed to do about paying for lunch and how to handle it. No one offered any information about filling out a lunch request form.
The following day was not much better and partially my own fault. Here in Belgium all of the "Belgian" schools get out at noon on Wednesdays, yes ALL students including high school. Wednesday was Isabella's second day of school and I was not yet into the swing of things. My older girls school does NOT release early on Wednesdays. I was sitting at home talking on the phone with my mother-in-law when I looked at the clock and suddenly remembered that I was supposed to pick-up Isabella two hours prior! In a mad dash I hung up the phone and headed off to the school. Thankfully, the garderie is in operation on Wednesdays too, so she would just be there waiting for me. Since this was all so new to her, I felt terrible that I had forgotten to pick her up on her early release day. I ran into the garderie area and didn't see Isabella anywhere. I looked for the lady in charge and she said, "hmmm, she is here somewhere". I was annoyed that she did not know where Isabella was or even seem to care. I found her hiding under a slide crying AGAIN. At first she said she just missed me, then she said, "I have to go potty and I cannot because the toilets are all clogged up". I took her into the bathroom to find small (under 3)children just using the toilet unsupervised and all of the tissue was in the tiny little potty's along with feces! It was so gross. I nicely, told the "lady in charge", and she just got huffy with me about being there alone and there was nothing she could do. Uh, okay, what about those other 2 adults that were there? Oh, and how about making a phone call? Again, I was furious and decided right then that Isabella was not going to go to that garderie area again. Well that made life way too difficult, how could I be in two places at one time? I could not leave the other two on school grounds unsupervised while I picked up Isabella. On Monday of the next week Isabella said she didn't feel well so I just kept her at home. I had asked Stig if his secretary could help us find a school near the other girls school, and she did and I called and made an appointment to go see it with Isabella that day. It was a nice little school and they were very nice. I had also been told to talk to a lady that worked in the office at the big girls school as she had children in the French system near ISB. She was very happy to help me and even took Isabella and I with her to pick up her daughter. The school was very nice, friendly, clean, wonderful playground and sweet women working in the 'garderie'. Best of all, Isabella liked it and said that she wanted to go there! The very next day, we switched her to that school and she is doing pretty well. They are all warm and friendly and willing to speak English with me and even with Isabella until she learns more French. It is so nice to feel good about taking her to school. The one lady at the garderie who speaks English, always runs over to greet us and give Isabella hugs and kisses. She even told Isabella that she loves her! Which true to her "Gregory" nature, sort of freaked Isabella out! LOL She just looked at her and said, "okay, bye." I later found out that in French there is not a word or phrase to tell someone that you really like them, just a phrase for I love you. I think that is why she is telling her that she loves her. I explained this all to Isabella and she is fine with it now. I would much rather have to explain to my daughter why someone "loves" her than to have her with someone who could care less about how she is doing.
I am still hoping to get Stig's company to agree to pay for Isabella's tuition to ISB when she is six. I would appreciate any prayers on the subject too! While I am pleased with this French school for kindergarten, I would much rather have her main schooling done at ISB with a more "Americanized" curriculum.
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