Nature vs. Nurture

Remi started preschool a few weeks back. On her first day we walked in, found her cubby, and she took off for the play area. Not a backwards glance, not a whimper, not even a "Bye, Mommy." I had to track her down to reassure my unconcerned child that I would, in fact, be back to pick her up in a few hours.

Who cares? her demeanor seemed to say, I'm surrounded by new toys and countless 3 year olds. This from a child with no previous daycare experience and limited interactions with kids her own age.

So I worried about her, despite this auspicious start. Would she make friends? Would she play with the other kids? Had I irreparably stunted her social growth by failing to identify and solidify her BCF (Best Childhood Friend) relationship pre-birth? Apparently not.

I met with her teacher, and the official word is that Remi is settling in just fine. That she not only plays with other kids, but that she's always in the middle of things. That she's a little director of sorts and they've dubbed her the Teacher's Assistant.

So I guess what this tells me is that nature won out. That if you're social, you're social, and Remi was just waiting for a nurturing chance to let her personality bloom.

What Remi Learned from Disneyland

What Remi learned from our recent trip to Disneyland consists of three very important facts:

1. The Pooh ride is scary
2. It's A Small World is too loud
3. You have to wait in line

She talked about it for weeks: the trip, meeting the characters, seeing the castle. And even more interesting, she played it for weeks. We set up boats and sang the Small World song. Her "buddies" got in the bus and drove to Disneyland. Her bath toys got in plastic tubs and floated down river.

But best of all was the waiting in line. Remi and I waited in line. Remi's buddies waited in line. Remi's bath toys waited in line. The rides themselves were pretty short--the focus, seemingly, was waiting in line. And there was no resentment about it, no impatience. It was fun. Everybody was having a good time. And when each toy reached the front of the line, it returned, uncomplaining, to the back of the line.

And though the waiting sometimes culminated in a ride, it never culminated in the Pooh ride, because the Pooh ride is scary.

Mooken Junkie

Remi is a little bit of a music junkie (that would be "mooken" junkie in Roo-speak). Probably a trait she gets from Dada.

Back when it was just Roo and Mama hanging out most of the time, she used to listen to toddler music. And she's definitely got some toddler favorites. But any music, and toddler music in particular, really grates on the nerves after the 100th listen. (Unless, of course, you're a toddler, in which case that's about the time it's just getting good.)

So in steps Dada, who has a much lower tolerance for "Six Little Ducks" than Mama does. And suddenly we're driving around listening to regular, adult mooken. And a whole new world of rock-n-roll opens up. And now Remi's music favorites have expanded to include "Kung Foo Fighting" and Devo's "Peekaboo." Not that she has forsaken her love of Charlotte Diamond -- she still loves a good listen of "Looking for Dracula," especially when Ena is visiting -- but we're slowly opening the horizons. A move we will no longer regret when she becomes a teenager who is looking to expand our musical horizons.