Spring Tea

On the morning of Cecily's birthday, we dropped Maia off at school, had a special treat at our bakery, and then ventured to our usual Friday playgroup... where I abandoned her. She was delighted, of course. Who wouldn't want to spend her birthday morning with fabulous friends?! And I went back to Maia's school for Spring Tea (also known as Mother's Tea). It was amazing- it reiterated why we send Maia to this amazing school, and gave us a very special morning together.

When I arrived at the school, I was escorted up to the classroom by the Assistant Head of School along with the mothers of Maia's classmates. We waited in a line outside the door, while each child was called up individually to escort her (or his) mom to our table. When Maia arrived at the door she said, "Good Morning, Mama. Let me show you to our table." She took my hand, and let me through the classroom to our table. After I sat down, she took her own seat.

Maia set the table herself:
Aside from the beautiful place settings, there was lovely card with my name on it showing me where to sit, a beautiful trio of magnetic clothespins decorated by Maia, a compilation of brief stories written by each child about her mom, and a beautiful photo of Maia mounted on a card. (In the interior of the card, Maia wrote in her own handwriting "I love you Mom. Maia")

Maia instructed me that first, we would have conversation and then we would have tea. We chatted for a few minutes, and then when the teacher rang a bell, Maia very carefully took my order for tea. She asked if I would like black tea or lemonade. Would I like Milk? Lemon? Sugar? Honey? She marked each of my responses very carefully on the order sheet they prepared. Once we'd gone through each choice, she neatly folded the piece of paper, and placed it in my teacup. She carried it up to her teacher, and then returned with a plate of treats- instructing me that we could each choose three items. There were rainbow cookies, sweet breads, meringues. They were all delicious!
We grabbed a teacher to take a photo of us:
After we finished our tea, the children put on a wonderful performance for us:


It was a lovely way to spend the morning! Thanks Maia and Stoneridge!!!

Maia and I left school, and went to pick Cecily up. Both girls were worn out, so we went for a long ride so they could get some naps in. After they woke up, we stopped for lunch and some birthday ice cream. Cec wasn't too sure about the ice cream- it was sweet, but it was cold. She kept trying it, but kept making the most awful face when the cold hit her mouth. We went to a playground and had a lovely time, before heading home for an early dinner with Daddy. We had a birthday party to get ready for!