Spielgruppe = Success!

Marion started her Spielgruppe (playgroup) last week. She goes two mornings a week to a Swiss group, so no English at all. It gives me a break while allowing Marion to play with other kids her age and (hopefully) learn the language.

I was told before we went to be prepared to stick around to make sure Marion was okay and acclimated. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before- Marion is a people person. She loves to play and meet new people. She sees random kids at the playground and yells "Hi friends!" at them, scaring most of them away.

Needless to say, I had my doubts that I would have to stay. Nonetheless, I didn't plan anything for the two mornings of her playgroup just in case.

We followed my neighbor and her daughter to the playgroup because I didn't know where it was. It was definitely a drive away, no way I could walk this. A short drive though.

We arrived at a cute little house full of toys and kids. I took Marion's shoes and jacket off and she immediately ran into the room saying hi to everyone. Not a shy bone in her body! The woman who runs the playgroup was setting up a craft on a table for everyone so Marion and her friend from our apartment complex ran right over and sat down next to each other. I stayed out of the way to see what Marion would do.

As I expected, she jumped right in. My neighbor asked me if I was going to leave and I told her I wasn't sure, that I thought I had to stay. She said Marion sppeared to be okay and asked the woman in charge (I'll just call her teacher from now on) if I could go (she doesn't speak a lot of English). She said of course, Marion seems fine! And she had my phone number, just in case.

I went over to say goodbye to Marion and was met with a "Noooo!" Hmmm, unexpected. So I stuck around for a couple of minutes. At that point Marion had found a baby carriage and, when I said goodbye, she didn't object.

So I left and returned a couple of hours later. When I arrived, Marion was holding hands with another girl, spinning around in the center of the room. I asked the teacher if everything was alright. She laughed, shook her head yes, and said "Ja, super!"

Marion then saw me and came running over to give me a big hug. I picked her up and she wrapped her hands around my neck. The cuddling was nice, it is a rarity these days! She was in a good mood and it was obvious she had had fun.

But it was time to go so she said goodbye to her friends and teacher and ran all the way to the car with our neighbor's child.

The second day was similar to the first, except there was zero arguments from Marion when I said goodbye. I think we found a good fit! Now I can only hope she learns the language. She seems to be dealing with the different language just fine for now. However, she talks so much these days I think she will feel ten times better when she can verbally communicate to the teacher and the other kids in her group. Sooner or later she'll be teaching Brian and I Swiss German!