January 26th
2012
7:30 A.M.
Thursday
David looked out the window of the family van, while sitting in his usual carseat in the back of the vehicle. It was warmer today, with temperatures in the fifties. The boy was in his casual outfit, eager and nervous about his first time at Daycare.
Marian looked at the vanity mirror and noticed his anxiety, she understood what he was going through. After all, many children experience this feeling when they aren’t sure what to do or how to react.
“Don’t worry sweetie, many children like you tend to get butterflies in their stomachs during the first day of school,” said the mother as she smiled.
“Really mama?” asked the boy.
“Yes, I remember my daycare memories quite fondly. I was so nervous that my mother had to carry me inside.” said Marian as she chuckled quite a bit. “The same went for interacting with the other children.”
This got a chuckle out of the cub, who was a little more comfortable now since he wasn’t alone in all this. The mother smiled as she continued driving on the road, keeping an eye on the traffic since it was busy.
After a short while, they arrived at Little Hearts Daycare and parked right outside the front entrance. Right next to some cars that were before them. Marian exited the car with her son, after unbuckling him from his car seat. She also made sure to grab some dark-blue noise-canceling headphones, just in case it was needed.
She then locked the car and placed her keys into the dark-pink purse she had over her shoulders. Both of them approached the front entrance door and came across a sign which intrigued David and his mother.
It said in bright blue lettering: “Good morning, all new students will have their photos taken for record keeping and also for memories. Please head to the playground that is outside the building..”
“Pho-tos? Che Cosa?” He asked.
“You’ll be getting your picture for the first day, which sounds nice!” said Marian as she led her son to the spot where everyone was meeting up. Holding him gently by the hand.
Near the playground were two lines of children, they were waiting to get their photos taken. Two of the teachers along with a few classroom aids watched over them, including a familiar face that David knew, who was wearing his usual outfit along with a white smock that had the words, ‘Little Hearts Daycare’ sewn into it with blue sewing fabric. His name tag was right above it.
“Jacy!” shouted David as he ran over and hugged him.
The young wolamute was quite surprised to see him, as he didn’t expect the boy to be a registered student of this daycare.
“Hey David! How are you buddy?” asked Jacy as he playfully ruffled his hair a bit.
“This is quite interesting, I didn’t know you worked at this daycare.” the mother said.
“It’s part of my school’s extra credit program, and I could make use of those credits for my school grade,” said the wolamute.
The mother nodded as she looked over at the fancy camera equipment that was set up near the playground, where children were having fun after getting their pictures taken by the photography crew.
“I’m glad you are helping out, that means David will be able to see you more often!” said Marian.
“Indeed so.” said Jacy as he watched the tiger cub wonder about which line to get into, heading over to give him a gentle pat on the back. “First line on your left, since you're with Miss Madelina’s class.”
“This one?” asked the tiger cub.
“Ahuh, that’s it.” said the wolamute as he smiled towards him.
“Si!” said David as he got in line.
There was a white backdrop with a red stool for all the students to sit on when getting their picture taken. Miss Madelina was watching everything, to make sure nothing went wrong.
When it was David’s turn to get his photo taken, he slowly walked up to the stool and sat down on it. Curiously staring at everything around him.
“Alright sweetie, stare right into the camera. I know it can be hard for you to make eye contact, but do your best.” said Miss Maddie.
“Okay.” said the tiger cub as he tried to look straight ahead, but ended up redirecting his eyes to stare below the camera lens. The teacher didn’t mind since she knew about him ahead of time. He put on a smile just as the camera-man took his photo.
When it was finished, the teacher went over to the boy and gave him a gentle pat on the head, along with a sun-shaped sticker that glittered a bit.
“Go ahead and play, sweetie,” said the teacher.
“Yay! Bellissimo!” shouted David as he went off to the playground.
The young cub looked around at all the fun playground equipment, but couldn’t quite choose which one to play on at first. Just as he was about to sit down and think further on it, another student gently approached him from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey there!” the girl exclaimed.
Hearing that surprised him a bit, causing the tiger cub to look around before seeing the one who spoke. It was a leopard donned in a light-pink blouse and white skirt, along with cream-colored shoes.
“Bonjour!” said the girl in a french-accent.
“Oh, Salve… I’m David” said David with a shy tone, with his Italian accent showing.
“Oooo, are you Italian?! That’s really great! I’m Eloise, and I am from Paris! I know some words in French.” said the young lady as she held out her hand. “I’ve never met anyone with an Italian accent.”
David looked towards her hand and gently grabbed it, giving a small shake for a moment before letting go. He then smiled towards her.
“My papa is from Sicily, I got the accent from him.” said the tiger cub.
“From Sicily? That’s neat!” said Eloise. “Do you have any favorite tv shows?”
“Ahuh, mine is Dino Heroes! It teaches how to speak in Italian!” said David.
“Magnifique! I think that sounds pretty good!” said the young leopard as she looked towards the swingset. “C’est parti, the swings are fun to be on!”
David followed the girl towards the swing-set happily, all while Jacy and Marian watched in the background. She was happy that her little boy had found someone to play with on the first day.
Both of the children got onto the swings and gently gave themselves a push with their feet, while holding onto the ropes that supported the seat of the swingset.
“It’s lovely to see David having fun. He seemed a bit uncertain of where to go at first.” said Marian.
“Yeah, and I’m sure it’ll be a good day for him.” said Jacy as he watched over the entire area.
Miss Madelina approached David's mother and said to her “It will be a rather short day today, so if you want to stick around you can. I don’t mind if you head out and come back later.”
“I think I’ll stick around, I don’t have to worry about anything at home today,” said the mother.
“Alright then, Miss Lavinzo. That’ll be fine.” said the teacher.
While supervising the area, Jacy spotted a white wolf cub in blue jean shorts and a red shirt heading towards the two. He was confused and kept a close eye on the kid, so he could be ready to act if needed.
David and Eloise stopped swinging after five minutes, getting off the swing together as they walked over to the slide. That’s when the kid chuckled and ran over to the tiger cub and screamed at him.
The tiger cub was scared by the sudden loud noise, and immediately covered his ears as he began to cower on the ground, rocking in place. He was shaking with great fear as the other kid that gave him the scare giggled.
Eloise was quite disappointed at the random kid that thought it was funny to frighten someone like that for no reason.
“David!” exclaimed Jacy as he ran over with Marian.
“Quickly, give him these noise-canceling headphones. I bring them with me, just in case something like this happens!” said Marian as she handed them over to the wolamute.
“Thank you!” said the wolamute. “Are you okay buddy? Looks like you got quite the scare. It’s going to be okay, bud.”
Jacy put the headphones over the tiger cub’s head, giving him a gentle back rub for a moment before facing the child responsible for the trouble, who wasn’t giggling anymore after realizing that he just got himself into trouble.
“No screaming at the other students! David is autistic and quite sensitive to loud noises.” said the wolamute.
“I’m sorry…. I just like to surprise people sometimes…” said the wolf cub who felt guilty.
“It’s alright, just remember that not everyone will like that. It’s not very nice to scream at people for no reason.” said Jacy.
David began to calm down after a bit of time had passed, with Miss Madelina coming over to check on everything. She saw that Jacy had taken care of everything. They smiled towards him and said “Well done, that situation was greatly handled.”
“No problem, I’ve actually babysitted David a while ago. We're both similar. He’s a very nice kid.” said the wolamute as the tiger cub went over and hugged his leg.
Jacy wasn’t expecting a random student to yell at another during the first day, but it was a good opportunity to provide a small lesson of his own to them. Especially if they are to treat David properly.
“Is he okay?” asked the leopard cub.
“He’ll be fine, Eloise. He just needed a moment to calm down.” said Miss Madelina.
“David is pretty nice, I’d like to be his friend,” said Eloise.
Hearing the word caused David’s ears to perk up as he slowly approached the leopard girl and asked “Really?”
“Ahuh, I really want to be your friend!” said the girl.
“Bellissimo! A new Amico!” David exclaimed.
“Go ahead and play, we’ll be heading inside after ten minutes,” said the teacher.
Both of the kids nodded as they headed towards the main attraction of the playground, all while the wolf cub went towards the swings. Marian went over to a nearby bench and sat down on it, watching as her child played with his new friend.
Jacy walked around the playground, keeping an eye out for any further problems that could pop-up at any moment. That was part of his job as a Daycare Assistant, which hadn’t been difficult for him so far.
After ten additional minutes had passed, Miss Madelina clapped her hands together and watched as all the students stopped in place. Next to her was a female rhino with green eyes, wearing a light-green dress with a smock.
“Okay children! Gather around please!” said the teacher as she watched them head on over. She made a quick head-count of all the children, smiling once everyone had been accounted for. “Now that everyone is here, I’d like to introduce myself: I’m Madelina but you can call me Miss Maddie! The first line will consist of those in my class, and will be in the Sprout Room!”
“Greetings everyone, I’m Stephany but you can call me Miss Steph! I’m the teacher of the Tulip Room. Those who were in the second photo line will be in my class!” said the female rhino as she smiled.
Both of the teachers watched as their respective students gathered together and started forming their lines. Jacy was standing behind them, making sure no one tried to switch lines or possibly walk away.
Once the lines had been formed, they began leading the students towards their respective classrooms. The young wolamute followed Miss Maddie towards the Sprout Room since he was assigned to it. Both classrooms had seven students assigned to each other.
When the children entered the classroom they were assigned to, they began looking around at all the colorful dinosaur-themed decor. David certainly liked the theme of the Sprouts Room.
Miss Madelina went over to the chalkboard in the room and wrote out the word in baby-blue colored chalk: Student Introductions. She watched as the students sat down on the red and circular t-rex themed carpet.
“Welcome to your first time at Daycare, I shall be your teacher for this semester. We’ll be focusing on introducing each other, then you’ll do some coloring, since it’s a short school day today. There are going to be other short days like this, especially half-days where you get out earlier.” said Miss Madelina.
“Oooo!” said the students.
“Yes, it’s very exciting when that happens. Now…. who’d like to introduce themselves first? Make sure to raise your hand like this.” She asked as she demonstrated how to do so.
Eloise is the first in the classroom to raise her hand into the air, she was eager to introduce herself. David was rather shy and didn’t raise his hand. She then made her way to the front of the room.
“Bonjour, my name is Eloise Berdoux. I am originally from Paris. My favorite foods are Fried Salmon and Lemon Eclairs.” said the young leopard.
“Very good, Eloise, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” said Miss Madelina.
She looked around to see who else wanted to introduce themselves, seeing David with his hand half raised.
“Do you want to introduce yourself, sweetie?” She asked.
“I don’t know… I’m afraid…” said the tiger cub.
“It’s okay sweetie, there’s nothing to be nervous about. It’s only the first day after all.” said Madelina as she approached the boy, gently patting him on the back. This encouraged him to step up to the front of the class.
The teacher happily watched as the tiger cub made his way to the front of the room, watching as all the students had their eyes on him.
“Salve, I’m David Lavinzo. My papa is from Sicily, and one of my favorite foods is shrimp. My favorite color is blue, and I’m autistic. My favorite TV show is Dino Heroes.” He said.
“Wonderful work sweetie!” said Miss Maddie as she gave the tiger cub a star-shaped sticker on his brown and white polo shirt, which made him smile.
Once the children in the room had introduced themselves, their teacher brought out some blank sheets of paper and some crayons to color with, placing them on round circular tables. She’d ask Jacy to head over to the kitchen to bring some snacks for all the children to enjoy.
“Yes ma’am, I’ll do that!” said the young wolamute as he headed out of the room.
While he went off to grab snacks for the children in the room, the teacher watched as the children all sat at small circular tables. They were making drawings for their parents, and David was making one of him and his mother standing outside during a sunny day.
The tiger cub was sitting next to his new friend, since he really liked how friendly she was towards him.
“We're quite similar, since we both share a love for seafood.” said Eloise.
“Shrimp is really yummy!” said David.
“I don’t mind Shrimp, but Fried Salmon really makes me excited!” said the girl. “Do you like Salmon as well?”
“Ahuh, I sure do!” said the tiger cub.
“My momma always told me that the best spices bring out the best in a meal.” said Eloise.
“Really?” asked David.
“Oui oui, it’s one of the most important things when it comes to cooking. I want to be a chef when I am older.” said the leopard.
“I uhh, want to be a….” said the tiger cub as his train of thought was interrupted by Jacy bringing in a small box of sugar-free fruit snacks for the children to have.
“Alright kiddos, I got you some healthy fruit snacks.” said Jacy as he started handing them out to everyone. “Make sure to take your time with eating them, don’t need anyone choking.”
“Yay! Snacks!” said David. “Thanks Jacy!”
“No problem, David.” said the wolamute.
Some children had enjoyed the fruit snacks, while others weren’t as enthusiastic about it. A few of them kindly refused them after having a single fruit snack from it. Jacy wondered what was so bad about it, since David seemed to like them. Along with his friend.
“I wonder what could be so bad about these? Sure it's healthy, but it should be good right?” Jacy thought as he grabbed a small package of fruit snacks and ripped it open. He grabbed an apple-shaped fruit snack from it and bit into it.
The wolamute then realized why a few of the students didn’t want them, it had very little flavoring to it. He checked the back of the packaging, and saw that every ingredient was natural without much sugar.
“Oh I see… totally mid snack. There’s better stuff than this.” the wolamute said to himself.
He took the pack of fruit snacks and passed them off to David instead, who gladly took them in a heartbeat.
“Grazie, Jacy!” said the tiger cub.
“You’re welcome David, I didn’t quite like them.” He said.
Miss Madelina watched as Jacy headed back over to here, she had appreciated all the hard work he was putting in today. Even if it was a short day, it was still good nonetheless.
“Miss Madelina, I’d recommend getting not so healthy snacks for the students,” said Jacy.
“Well, I did notice that a few of the children didn’t like them, including you. However… I don’t want to be giving them junk food.” said Miss Madelina.
“If you want healthy but good, I can tell you a brand that’s really great.” said the wolamute.
“Oh? You’ll have to tell me about it later.” said the teacher.
“I certainly will,” said Jacy.
****
After a few hours had passed, all the parents came to collect their children from the daycare. Marian was speaking with Miss Madelina and Jacy about David’s time during the first day, all while the tiger cub stood by the wolamute with a drawing in his hand.
“So… how was David during his first day?” asked Marian.
“Well Miss Lavinzo, he was rather shy during the student introductions but otherwise… he behaved really well,” said Jacy.
“He really enjoys sitting with Eloise, perhaps I can see a potential playdate between the two of them?” said Miss Maddie.
“Yes, perhaps so,” said the mother.
“Here you go, mama! I made it for you!” said David as he handed his mother the drawing.
Marian looked at the drawing and smiled, giving her son a gentle hug as she said to him, “Awww, thank you sweetie! It’s really cute! I’ll hang this on the fridge once we get home!”
The teacher knelt down to David’s level and looked towards him, with the tiger cub turning around to face her. He looked below her line of sight.
“I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, have a good rest of the day David.” said Miss Madelina.
“Si, I will!” said David.
David and his mother got back into the family fan, heading back home for the rest of the day. While the tiger cub was slightly anxious on his first day, he was able to make one new friend that likes him.
