Wow. Can it be? This is the end of a beginning, it feels like.
Anna started preschool this morning at a Lutheran Child Care Center about 5 minutes from our front door. It's a very nice school and she is in a small class with less than 10 other 3-4 year olds. She'll be going every three days a week from 8-12:30, which marks the longest time we've ever left her with strangers.
The transition this morning did not go well, but I wasn't really expecting it to. Anna has always been a very sensitive and high-strung kid, so to think that she'd skip off to play with a shed tear would have been nuts.
She cried. She screamed. I sat with her in the classroom for about 5 minutes and pointed out all the neat things and the other children gathered around to see what all the fuss was about. Then I stood up and her teacher, Miss Sarah, pried her off of me as she screamed, "Nononononono!" and then I headed for the door.
I admit completely that I was in tears myself by the time I made it to the hallway. It is really, really hard to see your kid desperate and terrified and wanting just YOU and have to walk away. But I did it.
As I got to my car I looked up and Anna was at the window, holding a toy pinwheel and in the arms of the teacher. She was waving bye-bye to me, so I smiled and waved and pretended that I was not about to completely lose it.
I really think this will be great for her. She is a very bright little girl and she's been getting bored with our standard daily routine, especially since it's cold and we can't get outside as much. I also think that having to work out disputes with other kids her age under a neutral and objective authority figure will be VERY good for her. And it'll be fun and challenging and educational and really set her on the right path for starting school in a few years.
I'm also looking forward to the quality time I'll get to have alone with Silvia while Anna is in school, that'll be really nice to be able to just give her some focused attention for once! And then I'll blink, and Silvia will be starting preschool and I'll be at loose ends and...
then what?
Anna started preschool this morning at a Lutheran Child Care Center about 5 minutes from our front door. It's a very nice school and she is in a small class with less than 10 other 3-4 year olds. She'll be going every three days a week from 8-12:30, which marks the longest time we've ever left her with strangers.
The transition this morning did not go well, but I wasn't really expecting it to. Anna has always been a very sensitive and high-strung kid, so to think that she'd skip off to play with a shed tear would have been nuts.
She cried. She screamed. I sat with her in the classroom for about 5 minutes and pointed out all the neat things and the other children gathered around to see what all the fuss was about. Then I stood up and her teacher, Miss Sarah, pried her off of me as she screamed, "Nononononono!" and then I headed for the door.
I admit completely that I was in tears myself by the time I made it to the hallway. It is really, really hard to see your kid desperate and terrified and wanting just YOU and have to walk away. But I did it.
As I got to my car I looked up and Anna was at the window, holding a toy pinwheel and in the arms of the teacher. She was waving bye-bye to me, so I smiled and waved and pretended that I was not about to completely lose it.
I really think this will be great for her. She is a very bright little girl and she's been getting bored with our standard daily routine, especially since it's cold and we can't get outside as much. I also think that having to work out disputes with other kids her age under a neutral and objective authority figure will be VERY good for her. And it'll be fun and challenging and educational and really set her on the right path for starting school in a few years.
I'm also looking forward to the quality time I'll get to have alone with Silvia while Anna is in school, that'll be really nice to be able to just give her some focused attention for once! And then I'll blink, and Silvia will be starting preschool and I'll be at loose ends and...
then what?
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