I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

This year we spent Christmas morning with our nephews, which means we just have to roll out of bed in the morning, make tea & coffee and go upstairs. It took them all morning to unwrap the presents and we took a break to have breakfast! It’s been grand.

The afternoon we spent with my mom and the rest of the family. Isn’t it nice to live in the same city! We had beautiful appetizers and a traditional 😉 curry dinner.

Today Evan is sleeping in, but the new xylophone upstairs woke me up and so I’ve been sipping my new tea from my favorite mug.

My three month probation period at work was over the day I flew to Malta. Three months. I learned so much. Some of the highlights included working with researchers, being a supervisor, and having large group meetings with all of the children. We’ve done so much in the past months, it’s hard to imagine I only started in August.

I like working with our researchers because it connects me to my IMEC life and the university. We’re inquiring into practice which is something I’ve always wanted to do. This week we’ve been asked to give feedback on a piece of documentation that was shared by one of the researchers. Asking all of the staff members for their perspectives on the projects is so important. In this way I feel valued and I feel as though I have an impact on the direction we’re taking this investigation.

Being a supervisor of a very new/young team is so nice. August and September were difficult and we’ve really had to bond right away! I think we’re doing very well! We help each other out, we are open to try new things, and we have celebrated a few great successes (such as getting all the kids to sleep, creating a warm and engaging environment for everyone, figuring out some expectations by negotiating with the kids).

The large group meetings with the children have been a hit. We bring up issues such as “toys form home” and “being kind”. The children discussed their concerns about bringing toys form home such as they might get lost… and then they came up with rules, e.g. you can only bring one, you have to share it or leave it in your cubby. Having these group meetings has been fabulous, mostly because this format respects the children’s perspectives on issues important to them. We document these meetings and share them with the families. The families love hearing about our discussions.

What a busy few months I’ve had. I finally feel that I’m not beyond exhaustion when I come home. Or maybe that’s because I just came back from the most amazing vacation?

16 years ago my family moved to Canada. Since then, all three of us have been back and forth, but we always end up back here. 16 years feels like a lifetime ago. My sister and I were teenagers, I was in love with Lars, I played in a marching band, I lived in a small village and had never crossed the ocean, I was in High-school. Glad my mom had what it took to move two teenagers to Canada, even though many people didn’t support her decision. So glad to live this crazy life.

A picture of Hamburg and Evan in front of my childhood home in Germany.

11 of us made it to Malta for our graduation and it was as though we just saw each other yesterday. Many of us stayed for the week and we had time to re-visit Malta and our memories.

The graduation ceremony was beautiful. It was held in a church and in the audience were some of our teachers from all three semesters, Kristel’s parents (who represented ALL of the IMEC parents and were as proud as can be), and of course Tomasito (representing Audrey’s family that took such great care of us these years). We’ve even made it into the Maltese Times! We were all slightly nervous (as you can see in the newspaper article), but in the end we all managed to shake hands with the important people and collect our degree/diploma at the front of the church.

I had the week of my life with my IMEC sisters. We laughed so much!

I gave myself a little birthday present… a flight to Malta for our graduation this November. I couldn’t be more excited. Many of my friends will be there and I’m certain that it will be unforgettable. A much better story than staying at home for graduation!

Last year I traded autumn for a prolonged summer in Malta, so this year fall seems sweeter than ever!

Good news! I have the results for my thesis and am glad to report that I got exactly what I was aiming for. Now it’s time to start thinking about turning the thesis into an article to publish it in a journal. I also want to share some of the findings with Pooh Corner. Even though I didn’t conduct the research there, I was on an educational leave from my position in the toddler room and would love to share some of what I learned with my colleagues. I will also look into presenting my thesis at my new job. Every few months we hold staff meetings with all of the staff from all of the childcare centres located on the university grounds. There is a meeting next week, it’s my first one with all of the staff and I’ll take the time to get an idea of the audience. Then I will talk to our executive director and arrange something for the next all staff meeting!

The first month is already behind me… I’m still adjusting to commuting to work (I miss being able to bike to work), but so far it hasn’t actually been a problem! Some days I take the bus, sometimes I drive, and sometimes I get driven.

Over the past month I have learned so much and every day I come home100% exhausted. My team is wonderful and the work environment is warm and welcoming. Right now we’re still figuring out the daily life together, transitions are stressful, but we’re excited to try out new things that might work better.

We’ve already had a ‘research staff meeting’ with one of the researchers who is spending time at our centre. That was one of the highlights of this first month and I hope that over time we can commit more time to projects and less time trying to figure out how to get everyone to have a nap…

Some of my IMEC sisters have started their new jobs as well while some are still travelling. For all of us it is taking longer than we thought to adjust to our post-IMEC life. We’re trying to stay in touch and I think it’s time to start thinking about some trips.

I forgot what it feels like to start a new job! Every evening I am beyond exhaustion and even feel too tired to sit on the sofa to watch a movie 😉 I’ve learned so much this week and it’s been wonderful.

In the past I have struggled with the theory/practice divide: I learned so much at school, but found it difficult to connect it to my work with the children/families/coworkers. In my new position I can work on combining the two. The new centre offers so many possibilities! We get to work with researchers, we have a coach to support our work, we’re contributing to a blog together, and I have amazing coworkers! My community of practice comes to life and I couldn’t be more excited!

After 11 years at Pooh Corner I worked my last shift this week. I am glad that I had the last two weeks to revisit my old life, reflect on my work, and spend time with everyone. I can’t believe that I have been gone for two years, I really thought this day wouldn’t come so soon. I am leaving with a wealth of memories and am pleased to give a new teacher the opportunity to work with the toddlers in my favorite daycare.

Yesterday I started in my new position as Senior Educator at a new centre and was welcomed with open arms. The initial job posting that I replied to as well as the interview were lovely. We share the same philosophy and I think I will be a good fit 🙂 I can bring a lot to their centre AND I can learn a lot. Sounds like the perfect challenge at this time. I look forward to this new adventure.

This week was also the official deadline for our thesis. I imagined all my IMEC sisters around the world trying to finish the last few paragraphs and then finally submitting their theses. We’ve been working towards this moment for the last two years and now it’s already behind us. How I would love to see everyone just for a day to talk about the last semester. Perhaps I need to start saving for graduation in Malta in November.