First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was ER's first day of preschool and it went very well. Really! It was much better than I expected. There was no crying, ER didn't and neither did Mommy, although I think if she had started I probably would've in the car! Brad works down the street from the preschool coop and met us there. We arrived a little early because as Session Rep., my job was to take pictures of each of the kids with their family. He took her into the classroom and got her settled, while I was busy with the families. I looked in a few times and she was absorbed with playing with the activities set out on the tables.By the time I finished in the hallway, it was Circle Time. I said goodbye to her, and she reached out to kiss the palm of my hand and held out her little hand for my kiss. We've been reading the Kissing Hand, and I've told her that I'd kiss her hand and she'll kiss mine. That way whenever one of us misses the other, we can hold our palm to our cheek and feel each other's kisses. She really liked the idea of that. She waved happily to me as I walked out.

I thought for sure the tears might be coming, since the past few days I've been rather sad at the thought of my baby heading off to school. I've been torn between my feelings as a former educator and parent. The teacher knows it will be a good experience for her, she'll get to learn in a safe and nuturing environment. Her teacher is very warm and kind, ER took to her right away, and she just has a manner to her that is very good with young children. ER will get to see other kids, learn how to exist without Mommy at her side at all times, how to follow directions, and school manners and rules.
The mommy side of me, keeps thinking why do we make them grow up so fast? Why can't kids be little, play, and run around longer. Is it really necessary to start formal instruction so soon? I didn't go to preschool until I was four, how early is too early? Plus I feel I can teach her more and better than anyone else. After all, it IS what I did professionally before staying home.

So it's for socialization, not the academics that we're sending her. Is it worth it to essentially pay for a play date? Don't worry in the back of my mind, when I say that comment rather indignantly I KNOW that there is structure and a whole lot of learning going on too. I am a big proponent of developmentally appropriate activities and learning through play and hands on manipulatives, which is also the philosophy of her preschool. With all the second guessing and going back and forth in my mind, you can imagine how relieved I was that today went as smoothly as it did!

I do feel it was the right decision for us, even though in my heart I am still very sad that my baby will not be with me all day anymore. That other people will care for her because I won't be there. I think most of us go through a period of reflection on this, or at least I hope other people do too!
When I picked her up from the playground, Mrs. Pam told me that the art activity was to make a painted apple. Each child got to choose with color they wanted: red, green, or yellow. ER picked red and when her teacher asked her if she liked green, ER told her no, only red. Mrs. Pam crinkled her nose and told her that she doesn't really like green either because they can be sour. ER thought that the face she made was very funny and then the rest of the day, she'd ask Mrs. Pam if she liked green apples. That was her way of getting Mrs. Pam to make the funny face again. I thought it was nice that her teacher made it a point to tell us each a little antidote about our child's first day.

As we drove home ER agreed with me that school was fun, but added after a pause, "I missing you Mama. You kissin' me all day." I could see her rubbing her little hand on her cheek in the rear view mirror. When we got home, before she climbed out of the car, she said, "I gonna kissy you right now," and she did, as well as giving me a big bear hug. We ate snack and then I asked her what she wanted to play. She just wanted to snuggle on the purple couch and watch Olivia. And so we did, at one point ER had her arms wrapped around my waist and looked right up at me and said, "I love you Mama, Mama always comes back." So even though we took a big step today, she's still my little girl who loves to give me rapid fire kisses on the cheek. I think we'll both adjust to preschool, just fine.

{BTW Did you notice the layered digital frames I made for the last three pictures? I'm rather proud of the way they came out, especially because I had to figure out how to change the color of the rick rack from green to blue. The original color version is in my header. That and the tree button came from my header kit by Krystal Hartley. Otherwise, I used freebies I got off August Blog Train. It's rather tedious to go to all the blogs but a nice way to add to my digital collection, all it costs is the time it takes me to gather everything up. The top frame I did not make, it came already embellished and ready to go.}