Getting to Know You

Now that the bloc of holidays has ended, the parents in the class and the Gan staff in general seems to have relaxed, and we are all making the effort to learn names and get to know each other. It helped that the Birthday Board has photos of Raphaela, in honor of her celebration this week, and it has not gone un-noticed that the family portrait contains Raphaela and her mother (and cat), sans father figure.

 In conversation today with the manager of the Gan, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that "C" [Ultra-Orthodox/"Chardal", hair covering, nine children] has a JSMBC sister, whose boy is now five years old; a child welcomed with full and open hearts by the family.  C asked me if I have any family in the country who  help me, and noted with gravity and some level of admiration that I was "really doing this all on my own."  C noted that there are two other single mothers in the Gan this year, and that she has always been impressed how single parents by choice "clearly invest in their children," and how " happy and communicative" my daughter has been since she started their program.

How refreshing to receive not only a lack of judgement, but rather positive reinforcement, especially coming from people who spend nine hours/day with my child, and see her outside the context of the house.