Elise has spent a large portion of her life surrounded by her peers, considering that she has been in daycare since she was 3 months old. But for the first few years, her interaction with peers was usually limited to observation and playing near others - not necessarily with them (which is typical for the age). Age 3 has been the year of developing real friendships and really enjoying playing with other kids. At school, Elise and her two best buddies, Sara Jane and Audrey, are considered The Three Musketeers, as the three of them are practically connected at the hip all day, everyday at school. The first thing Elise tells us when we pick her up was whether or not SJ and Audrey were there (and their presence determines whether or not she enjoyed her day) and then she goes through the list of things they played together. They have all sorts of complicated and on-going games, jokes and sayings like they have been pals forever (which I guess they technically have - she has been "pals" with Audrey since she was 3 months old and Sara Jane since she was 15 months). They hug each other at the end of the day and beg to get together on weekends for playdates too.
We have had many, many weekend playdates with her BFF's but a few weeks ago, Elise had her first playdate at Sara Jane's house where her parent did not stay with her. There was something kind of sad about how grown up it seemed to drop her off at a friends' house to play and come back a few hours later to hear all about it. I was actually surprised that she even agreed to be dropped off there, as she tends to be a little hesitant to separate from us on the weekends, but she loved it and regularly asks if she can be dropped off at Sara Jane's house now ("just drop me off and go home!"). Almost every morning she wakes up and asks if she can have a playdate today. She looooves her buddies.Elise and Myles
She is also in a girl-only phase and no longer wants to have anything to do with boys - or at least says she doesn't. Her world these days revolves around frilly stuff, dresses, pink/purple/red things, princesses, baby dolls, and anything else that is stereotypically girly. There is apparently no room in this girly universe for boys. She used to play a lot with several boys in her class, but recently she does the nose wrinkle and says "I don't like boys" when I ask her if she played with former-best-boy-pals Max or Issa that day. Exempt from her boy-ban, however, is our neighbor Myles, who is not so much classified as "boy" as "neighbor/convenient friend", and of course Lucas, who is classified as "baby".Elise and Sara Jane this summer
Anyway, imagine the horror we felt when we found out that "Best, Best" Bud Sara Jane would be going to a different pre-school starting in September. Yes, it's still pretty far away and a lot can happen in little girls' lives over the course of 9 months, but I am already dreading the separation. Sara Jane's mom is dreading it too, and the two of us are already planning to sign the girls up for gymnastics classes (or something) together so that they still see each other. But it won't be the same. These two play together - and then talk about playing together when they are not together - non-stop. Last week we got a bit of good news though - we found out that Sara Jane's family is moving to a house that is on the street right behind us so that should make it much easier to get them together on a regular basis. Phew. Disaster averted? Only time will tell.
Elise and Audrey
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