Abbie’s last day at the asilo

Friday was Abbie’s last day at the asilo in Sarone.  I was a little sad for her and for her teachers, since they were sad to see her go.  And I was a little sad for me since the asilo here is free except for the 2E meal ticket per day, and in AZ it’s going to be around $440/month for PART TIME.  Ugh.

Abbie has come a LONG way since her first day at the asilo.  She loves going to school now and gets sad to leave when I come pick her up after she’s been there for 7 hours.  I think she thrives in a group setting like that where she can be social and be around other kids.  She learned quite a bit of Italian and can sing nursery songs in Italian now, which is really cute.  I’ll miss that.

Ben and I walked this walk multiple times per week to take Abbie to school or to pick her up from school.  Usually I would strap him on my back in the Ergo, or I would push the double stroller up the hill so she could ride home.  The street above was about the only flat part of the walk.  The rest of it was uphill to her school, although it was less than a half a mile away.  I loved that her school was within walking distance of our house.  The two preschools we’re considering for Abbie in Phoenix are both about a mile and a half away from our house there.  I will consider putting the kids in the Burley bike trailer and taking Abbie to school that way there.  I loved that I could walk her to school here.  And I lost a bit of weight doing it!

This is one of Abbie’s teachers.  I think she had 4 of them that rotated throughout the day.  Abbie really like Maestra Marta (pictured above).  (“Maestra” means teacher in Italian.)  She didn’t speak much English, but she always gave Abbie a big hug when she got to school.  The night before her last day of school Abbie told me that Maestra Felica said that she would “have a tear” when Abbie left.  It was sweet.

Every day Abbie would ask if she could play in this park right outside the school.  The asilo has a private park not open to the public, but this was the little public park in Sarone.  It had like 3 things, but Abbie still liked it.  I think she’s going to be overwhelmed by the parks in Phoenix.  There is a park about 300 feet from our back yard in Phoenix and it’s even covered, so it’ll be shaded in the 120 degree heat there.  She’s going to love it.

I’m glad we put Abbie in the asilo during our time in Italy.  I know she really enjoyed her time there.  Hopefully we’ll find a preschool in Goodyear that she likes just as much.