A Year Later

Parent/Child Night at Garden of Hope is kind of a big deal. It’s the culmination of a year of hard work and growth, where you get a glimpse into what your child’s day is like and what they have been working on. Last year, Ella regaled us with water work. She loves water work. Still does. However, as a three year old, it took the entire allotted time for her to set up water work and then go through the activity with us.

This year, Ella is a big four year old. She started with a sewing card. She’s working to master the sewing card. Once she does, she will be able to use a needle and thread to make a bookmark with plastic sheets. When she becomes a reader – she’ll sew a book bag!

Once she had whipped through that, she was off to show us another activity, and another, and another, and yet another. We saw pouring (water and grain), picking things up with tweezers, scooping and ladling. Then, when the cups runneth over, we watched Ella scurry to get cleaning supplies to clean up the water or various grains.

She was a busy girl, but also kept tabs on what every other student was doing (because since day 1 of life, Ella has always kept an eye on everything going on around her). It was such a fun night to watch Ella shine. She was then very excited to give us the treats they had made for the parents and to gather the snack that was made for her. We left with handfuls of snacks, sprouting sunflower plants, smiles and a sense of pride all around.

Following our night in the Casa, we took Ella out for a special dinner. Just the three of us. Ella was sure to bring her flower pot in (“Dirt Cake” – pudding, cookies and a gummy worm) and politely asked our waitress for a spoon before she had even sat down at the table. Ella was excited for her fancy dinner and we had fun chatting with her. I have to say, meals are much more relaxed when you’re dining with a four year old, than a two year old…or a four year old AND two year old. I’m just sayin’.