Art class!

MZ and I started taking an art class, and it occurs to me that it's the first organized class we've ever taken together out of a swimming pool. I take her to playgroups and places where she can do various activities all the time, but my preference has been for unstructured activities, since her grandparents are usually enrolled in art and music with her. But I am not crafty, and MZ seems to like to color and paint and such, and I thought an art class might help me figure out how to do some of these activities with her at home.

So here we are in class and I am blown away by my daughter. She's not shy! She may not be roll-you-over social, but in this small group setting, she piped up with answers, asserted opinions, interacted with the other kids and generally demonstrated total confidence. In a sea of primary colors, she asked for pink, and lo if the teacher didn't go mix up some for her with red and white. And she said Thank you with just a little coaching.

We've decided not to enroll MZ in preschool next year. We looked at the available programs for a 2.5 yr old versus what's open to an older child, and then looked at her week, and the time she spends with her grandparents, and decided there's no rush to get started. And then I considered how much she's come to love her daycare provider, and how sad it would be to yank her away after only one year, and well, the cost of preschool, and it felt like a good decision.

But of course I've second-guessed this, because I am the queen of analysis paralysis. Am I shortchanging her? Am I stifling her development? Will this exacerbate her shyness?

Our art class experience as well as her foray into imaginary play, and recent visits to the park, where she's conquering the Big Kids slide and clambering up ladders, is reinforcing my original decision, but also reminding me that it's much too soon to try to define who MZ is -- or what we should be looking for in a preschool. Much too soon for labels like "shy" or "literal" or "not very physical." I realize she's got a lot more to show us about who she is, and her personality is only beginning to unfold. And wow! I am so totally enamored of this kid! I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us.