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Thursday, October 14, 2010

preschool daze

so remember how the poor bean was subjected to her 3-year checkup ON her birthday?  not only did she have to go to the dreaded doctor's office, but she had to endure a shot and a TB test - two separate needles.  poor baby.  but it was all for a good cause - she left the office with a completed form in hand from the doctor to submit for preschool enrollment.

and yesterday was the big day.  i'd been putting it off for ages, with the hub on my ass to get her going and me just not wanting to face the fact that my baby is old enough to go to preschool.  but i finally had to give in - i knew it was a good thing for her, not to mention that it would give MIL a nice break in the mornings.  we enrolled her into the half-day session, so she's there from 8:30 to 11:30.

so we just hyped it up for her ("wow, you're such a big girl, are you excited to go to school?" and she'd answer "yeah!  you're gonna go wif me, wight?" oy) and tried to get her amped up to play with new friends and learn songs and all sorts of fun stuff like that.  and i just prayed that i wouldn't cry in front of her.  heh.  i was really torn between taking her and just letting the hub handle it, thinking maybe it would be easier on both of us if i weren't there.  but after polling my twirlfriends, and realizing that if i didn't go to drop her off for her first day of preschool i'd regret it later, i decided to suck it up and do it.  when the hub suggested that we both go (duh, geez), i jumped right on it.  i don't know why i didn't just think of that to begin with.  see, that's how nutso i was over the whole thing.

she was still drowsy when we got her up to have some breakfast and get ready for the day, but she lit up when she saw the "eggs with the cheese stuck on it":






i put her ziploc bag with her change of clothes inside (labeled with her name, so it wouldn't get mixed up with other kids' stuff), and stuck it in her backpack.  she was pretty excited to rock it.


it was a quick ride to school, and she demanded that she get to wear the backpack again as we walked her to the door.


we were greeted warmly by the staff, who showed her where the cubby was for her backpack.


as luck would have it, a "grocery store" was set up outside for the kids to do some shopping and act as cashier.  she got right up in the mix, grabbed a cart, and started browsing the shelves.




the parent handbook told us that the sneaking-out method was discouraged, so that the kids got a chance to say goodbye to their parents.  and i realized that was a much nicer way to handle it, so that we could get a hug and kiss (despite my fear of seeing and hearing her cry as we left).  so after a few minutes, we approached her and told her we were going to go to work and that grandma would be back to pick her up.  and she took it like a pro - she gave us kisses and didn't make a single peep of protest.  we went back into the building and peeked at her through the window to make sure she was okay, and she just turned back to the fun stuff and started chatting with the nearest toddler.

i was SO relieved.  oh, man.

and then i was super duper proud of myself for not crying!  you know what a sap i am.  i'd even grabbed a hand towel on my way out the door, in anticipation of some serious waterworks on my part.

of course, once i was on the freeway and started thinking about what a big step she'd just taken, it hit me.  the tears welled up, my vision blurred slightly, and i totally started crying right there in the middle of rush-hour traffic.  oy vey.  i reached for my towel - emblazoned with a big ass minnie mouse design - and dabbed away, hoping my mascara wasn't running all down my face.  i got a few strange looks from other drivers, but i didn't care.  my baby's a preschooler!

i thought about her all morning long as i worked, and tried to keep myself distracted with various tasks around the shop.  i counted down the hours in my head and sent her "stay strong, baby" vibes.  and as soon as the clock struck 1:30, i clocked out and picked up my phone to check for updates. 

sure enough, a text from the hub read "she didn't cry!"

and then i was relieved all over again.  wow - she's such a rock star!  although i guess what actually happened was that she did a great job all morning, participated in all the activities and stuff, and then when they went in for the last potty break, the teacher put on rubber gloves.

uh-oh.

like band-aids, she associates rubber gloves with the doctor's office.  and of course, in her little mind, the doctor's office = needles and shots.  no bueno.  that's when she started to cry. 

it didn't last long, and MIL came right on time to pick her up and explained to the staff why she'd cried.  the teacher whipped those gloves right off and thanked her for filling her in.

later, as i asked her how she liked school and what her favorite part was, the first thing out of her mouth was "i didn't like the gloves at school."

but really - i feel like the biggest, gigantic-est burden has been lifted off now that the hurdle of the first day is behind us.  she said she had fun and wanted to go back (good, because she is - 3 days a week), and we're just so proud of her. 

my baby's a preschooler!

15 comments:

  1. Aww...man, they grow up fast, eh? My nephew is almost 5, and I remember feeding him a bottle as if it were yesterday. :\

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  2. Aww...man, they grow up fast, eh? My nephew is almost 5, and I remember feeding him a bottle as if it were yesterday. :\

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  3. Yay for the Bean! You must be such a proud mama. :)

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  4. I think the reason why I'm so averse to having children is that I never had experiences like this.

    I didn't even speak English when I was shipped off, and I distinctly remember my mother dropping me off at the curb, leaving me to wander in by myself.

    I might think differently had you been my mother.

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  5. So happy it went well for the bean!! Yay! She looked super cute, too

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  6. Aww, so proud of the Bean for doing so well on her first day! That is so awesome.

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  7. aww..she did an awesome job! it's always the parents that have a harder time, meanwhile the kids are like "you're still here??" heh..

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  8. Told you!! Now dont freak out if she cries in like a week or so, it takes a while for them to get adjusted...and you too! She's a smart girl she's going to do great things and give you more reasons to beam with pride.

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  9. This post made me cry like a fool--most likely because I'm a big hormonal mess these days. I bawled when I left my dog at the groomers the first time. Obviously, in about 3 years when I go through the same thing, I'm SCREWED.

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  10. Glad it went well! And I'm proud of you for keeping it together for so long!

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  11. Yay for the Bean! She's such a cutie and from what I see on here, you're such an awesome mom. It's posts like this that make me want to have a kiddo.
    Do you think desensitizing her to rubber gloves by throwing them on around the house some would work? Just an idea.

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  12. Awww, I'm so proud of you for not crying til you get to your car ;-)

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  13. my baby's in preschool this fall too....waaaaah!

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  14. Interesting re WM's comment - I would have to agree. Your writing reminds me of how my mom was when I went to school. But my mom was crazy. She parked outside the gates so she could watch the playground for a while to see me before leaving for home.

    YAY BEAN!

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  15. Ah man, she is just growing up too fast! I'm glad you all survived and hope that she is still enjoying it. :)

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