Assignment 6:Language/Communication

Untitled by Mary Kavanagh

 

Rose arrived late that first day tugging a rather reluctant Leanne by the hand. She smiled reassuringly at her two and a half year old who looked a little mesmerised by this new turn of events. ‘Ok Pet’ she said brightly ‘Here we are. Your first day at playschool. Isn’t that exciting?’ Leanne nodded a little uncertainly overawed by this strange place and not her usual chatty self now that they were actually here. She had chattered constantly about ‘pay skoo’ for the last few weeks not really having a clue what it meant apart from ‘fun’ and ‘friends’ and ‘colouring pictures’. Her little mind could not really grasp the idea of being parted from Mummy for a ‘little while’ but being ‘picked up at twelve o’clock’. Rose had tried to be upbeat and reassuring, hiding her own apprehension about how her quiet little daughter, who was quite a pet at home, would cope with the rough and tumble of playschool in a big city. They had only moved to Dublin recently from county Limerick and even Rose had not had time to settle in and make friends yet. She had enrolled Leanne in this playschool before they had even moved here on the advice of a friend who said that getting into a Dublin school was becoming more difficult than pulling hen’s teeth.

A brightly painted sign enhanced with butterflies and flowers pointed the way to the ‘Sunny Days Playschool’. The corridor was adorned with cartoon characters from Snow White to Spiderman and a bright yellow door opened into a large cheery room filled with small children occupied with various toys. Leanne’s eyes widened even further as she took in this intriguing but unfamiliar scene and she clung tighter to her mother’s hand and shrunk behind her, digging her little heels in as she refused tacitly to enter the room. Her bottom lip trembled and Rose could see tears were not far away. ‘Hello’ came a cheery voice and a smiling young woman approached calling ‘back in a minute pet’ to a tot who was struggling to put a too-large teddy into a tiny dolls pram. ‘Hi, I’m Yvonne’ she said to Rose before bending down to Leanne’s level. ‘Hello, would you like to come in and see our doll’s house?’ Leanne’s eyes lit up with interest but she still hung back. Yvonne looked at Rose ‘a bit shy hmm’ she said quietly. ‘Not usually’ Rose answered ‘but it’s all a bit strange what with moving house and everything.’ As they chatted Leanne took a couple of steps into the room. Yvonne nodded to Rose to take no notice for a moment and they watched to see what would happen. Suddenly a little girl of about three emerged from the doll’s house and looked around. When she spotted a new face her eyes lit up and she ran over. She stopped in front of Leanne. ‘May do’ she said pointing across the room. She caught Leanne’s free hand in hers and started back the way she had come. With a sidelong glance at her Mother, Leanne pulled her hand away from Rose’s and trotted off happily with her new friend. ‘That’s Sylvie’ Yvonne said ‘Her family moved here from France a couple of months ago. She’s a happy little thing although she doesn’t understand much English yet. Rose watched fascinated as the children quickly organised themselves around a little table outside the playhouse set with tiny plastic cups and saucers. ‘Doo thay oo doo lay’ said Sylvie handing a tiny cup to Leanne. ‘Doo thay doo lay’ mimicked Leanne. Both little girls pretended to drink and burst into giggles. ‘Bicky’ said Leanne offering a pretend biscuit to Sylvie. ‘Bi-kee’ said Sylvie taking one and pretending to eat. A large doll sat on a chair near the table and Sylvie reached over and pretended to feed the doll. ‘Boo-bay’ she said and jabbered a few more words incomprehensible to Rose, a combination of baby-talk and French. ‘Boo-boo’ shouted Leanne with great excitement and Rose realised that the doll did look a lot like Leanne’s old rag doll at home. ‘Dolly Boo-Boo’ Leanne said again looking earnestly into Sylvie’s eyes. ‘Dodee Boo boo’ chanted Sylvie happily.

Realising that Leanne was perfectly happy with her new friend Rose slowly edged towards the door and eased herself out quietly with a wave to Yvonne. Yvonne acknowledged the wave with a smile and a nod at the two little ones who had managed to make friends and overcome in moments a barrier that would take older and wiser people a lot longer to break down. Suddenly Rose felt much more hopeful about the move and excited about the possibilities ahead for new friendships and experiences not just for her daughter but for herself as well.