school days

Today I was walking down the street and I saw a group of small children walking from a playground. Then I heard the teacher call out: "Anna Margaret - this way."

I saw Anna's striped, pink jacket. It is actually a mild, sunny, beautiful day, but it was cold in the morning (we do live near a lake). The jacket has a long history -- we bought it all the way back in 2004 when we lived in Port Jefferson. It is still in use.

Anna saw me and ran in my direction. Then she jumped into my arms and made a pig sound. "Oink oink!" she said to me. I put her down and told her that she had to stay with her friends. I only know two of them: one is named Joonas and the other is Mimi. Her name is pronounced in the French way (I think) with the emphasis on the second syllable. miMI. Mimi has a little brother: Benjamin. I first met Mimi at our friends' cafe. I had put a bag of pastries on the ground and gone inside the cafe to talk. When I came out, somebody had found the pastries and was eating one:

Anna talks about her a lot. I guess she has left an impression on our younger daughter. Anna doesn't cry when she goes to preschool in the morning. This morning, she happily followed the teacher into the kitchen where she was making breakfast.

Marta likes school too. I have only been inside with her a few times. The school feels very comfortable. It is nice that I can walk both children to their schools. After school, Marta plays with her friends from class, or sometimes with girls from the neighborhood. Last weekend, she slept over her friend Mia's house. Mia lives outside our town and they have a big trampoline in the yard. Needless to say, Marta did not want to leave when I went to pick her up.

That's Mia to the right of Marta. Maari (age 5), on the far left, is Mia's little sister and Miko (age 2), on the far right, is her little brother. On Sunday, they went hiking in Soomaa National Park and Marta went swimming in a lake (probably the last swim of the year). There is something else that connects Marta, Anna, Mimi, and Mia and her brothers and sister: they are all bilingual. Mimi's father is from Sweden. Mia's father grew up in New Jersey. It's nice to be able to talk to other kids in English. Mia's older brother Mano (age 11) calls me "Mr. Petrone."