parent teacher conference today

i had a conference with mrs. d, one of nina's preschool teachers. everything's great, but we all knew that already. she said nina is a delight to have at school, that she is friends with everyone, plays well, and just generally wonderful. mrs. d said that when nina plays with toys, she goes for the toy she wants regardless of which kid is playing with it too. meaning, if she wants to play with the blocks, she'll go over regardless who is there. she doesn't base her activity choice on which kid she wants to play with, it's based on which toy she wants to play with. this fits well with nina at home too. she's much more interested in what we're doing than she is in playing with any particular kid.

mrs. d also said that nina is always 100% aware of what's going on and what she's supposed to be doing. which of course is no surprise as well. she said that if the class is talking about, say, the weather, it's very common for a 3 year old, when asked a question, to say something like "my shoes are blue." and they say, "why yes they are, but what about blah blah blah." but not nina--if she's asked a question, she always answers appropriately. ah, i forsee nina's future, sitting in the classroom, teacher trying desperately to draw the correct answer out of another child, knowing that he can call on nina at any time and always get the correct answer.

mrs. d said that nina is much less shy than she was at the beginning of the year. at the beginning, nina was more likely to hang back and watch the other kids play. mrs. d said she would ask nina, "would you like to play with the blocks too?" and nina would nod. so mrs. d would say, "well, why don't you go ask if you can play too?" and nina would say no, she didn't want to. so mrs. d would take her over and ask for her. but now, and for a long time, she has just happily gone over by herself and asked to join in. so, isn't that nice.

maggie was with me, and mrs. d was very impressed with her too (little show stealer!). she said something to maggie at one point, and maggie looked up at her, and mrs. d said "oh, she's smart. she's very smart."

i think that's it! i'm so glad nina has so much fun at school. this week they're making vegetable soup. nina brought in carrots.