10 Pre-school Facts (PS: this is blog post #600)

This is after 2 days of Pre-school

1. No sleep. I couldn't sleep all night (as if it were me going to school for the first time)

2. Routine rocks! I think preschool will be awesome because I need something to keep me in a routine. (Wake @6:30, Breakfast, Wash/Brush/Dress, Play until time to go to school)

Breakfast of Champions! I made homemade waffles on the first day

3. 10 minutes. From my house to school. I was first in line to drop off both days. Say what?!? Will end this week.

4. Tears. I shed them massively after the drop off on Day 1. Driving & crying isn't safe.

Claire loves her big brother

5. So ready! This kid was so ready for school and it shows the way he can't wait to leave the house each morning!

6. Waffles & eggs. Breakfast routine: tues/thurs is waffle & yogurt, wed/fri is eggs & yogurt. 'Nuf said.

7. Day 1: Wesley, "I played with cars, did circle time, read books, ate lunch and then went home with mama."

8. Day 2: same thing except "I got to play on the computer."

Bye! Let the tears begin...

9. Pick up. I'm still so scared I'll be late! The first day I had a massive panic attack because Claire was playing with my keys and I couldn't find them! (Under the dining room table). Not the first in line. Thank god.

10. Weird. It's weird having the teachers get your kid from the car. Convenient, yes.

I have a pre-schooler

Summer is, to sum it up, done.

Wesley starts his first day of preschool on Thursday. Summer is over, and with that it takes my baby away to school. [Sigh.] He's not a baby anymore. He's a three year old preschooler. [Sigh.]

It felt like yesterday I was registering him.

I'm definitely finding this difficult to accept, yet excited for him, at the same time. He's so ready for preschool - even his Parents Day Out (PDO) teachers told me; he is mature, willing to learn, curious, vivacious, and most of all a big boy. He's used to being away from Mama, loved going to PDO and camp this summer without Mama, and playing with friends. I have no worry that he'll adjust well to this new setting, new teachers, and new faces. Newness never seems to phase him.

It's me. The Mom. Can I get used to the fact that I now have a preschooler? He won't be home with me all the time ... wait a minute? Am I really sad that I get a break from him?

Well, sorta. The baby Wesley was a pain without a doubt. All babies are. But he's grown into this wonderful boy who I have fun with, talk with, play with, joke and laugh with. When he leaves, I look at Claire and say, "Well? Got anything to say?"

So what will I do for 2-1/2 hours, 4 days a week while my big boy is in school? Claire and I will certainly occupy ourselves -- she in the daycare while I work out 2 days a week and then 2 days a week in different playgroups.

We'll have fun, bond, and I'm sure by the end of the year when summer hits us again I'll be crying when I drop the two of them off at Summer PDO -- and get some time all to myself. At least I'll cry the first week, after that ...?

Pre-School Registration

A year ago like now, I was wading in a warm pool with my fellow pregnant pals, enjoying baby-free time by talking about our toddlers and how they drive us crazy. Typical.

In the course of this conversation, I learned that one of my friends had just signed her daughter up for preschool... that starts in September ... in February.  My unborn daughter did a flip-flop in my belly! "You're choosing a school 9 months in advance?!"

Talking with my mom afterwards I learned that when she was a naive youngster with a toddler-me, she called preschools over the summer only to be laughed at - "You can't call 2-3 months before school starts?!" Looks like 1979 and 2013 have a lot in common and that my new hometown isn't just a crazy page out of the Stepford Wives.

So I did what any good suburbanite mom does and break out the list of preschools once January 1st hit : too $$, too far, too waitlisted ... 

In the end, I signed W up with a school I liked, that was close by, affordable, and recommended. As soon as I thought my work was done ... I received the call from another preschool -- the public one where everyone says don't bother unless you're prepared to wait in line in December (yes, you read right, December). As it turned out, they had just begun waitlisting students and we would be 1st on the list. A few weeks later, we got the call -- "A spot opened up, would you like to take it?"

Taking it meant we wouldn't be in the same class as one of my friend's daughter's, that W wouldn't be able to continue his PDO class he loves, and that I'd be getting him ready for 3-year old preschool 4 days/week. But once I visited the school, I felt this was the right choice. The kids looked happy, they were learning and socializing well, and I could see my little W right there among all the other cute precocious 3-year olds.

So there it goes, my adventures in Pre-School registration ... 9 months in advance.