Moving on up

Alby has 6 days left in the Glow worms room of nursery.  With Friday next week comes Good Friday and the start of the Easter holidays.  And following the holidays Trouble Monkey moves up to Caterpillars.    

To help prepare him for the move up the nursery staff have been taking him up for the occasional session each week since half term.  And yesterday morning Alby walked me up to meet the lady who will be his new Key Worker, Dawn. 

I had it in my head that Caterpillars was a bit gloomy and boring following the Glow worms room but I was very pleasantly proven wrong when I walked in yesterday to a large room completely decorated in photos and art work by the little ones.  Children were busy playing with bricks on the large tables in the middle of the room.  Most of the children eat their lunch at the table and I think Alby will love sitting up like a big boy for lunch and snack time.  There is a slide and two sit on ladybugs to race around the room on for the active ones and a comfy corner (think cushions and then think some more) for those wanting to chill out.  

What is really lovely is that the room opens out onto a little private garden just for the Caterpillars and on days when the weather isn’t just horrid the children have free flow in and out. 

There is a little room which doubles up as a sleeping area (two cots) and changing area.  I’m a bit sad that these two have been clumped together, but it’s a small price to pay.  Whilst I’m a bit of a snob about where my child sleeps Trouble Monkey doesn’t discriminate like his mother however and was fast asleep in there when I turned up to get him this afternoon.

I have mixed feelings about Alby moving rooms.  On the one hand he is now the oldest in the baby room.  From being the youngest who was learning off all the others these days he is the one doing the teaching (a worrying idea) and becoming a bit too old for some of the games and toys they have.  Caterpillars will be far more appropriate and with that, better for him.  Nut on the other hand I love Glow worms.  He has been there for ten months.  I can’t even begin to put into words how wonderful the Glow worms staff have been; reassuring, compassionate, friendly, trustworthy hardly scratch the surface.  And they were even polite enough to tell me that they didn’t want Alby to leave because they love him so much.  “He’s ready to leave but we’re not ready for him to leave” were Rachel’s words last month – ah bless her (though I’m sure she says that to all the mums).

But move he will.  Dawn, his new Key Worker has given us a box of goodies to have at home this week made up mostly of toys, photos and information about her. I’ve even got some homework to complete this weekend.  On top of that Alby and I will be out shopping, spending a decent amount of Daddy’s money on gifts for Shannon, Zoe and Rachel in thanks for the wonderful care they have given my Trouble Monkey.  No idea what would be an appropriate gift but hopefully I’ll find inspiration somewhere on the streets of Northallerton!