First Day of Preschool

Another thing that no one really tells you about being a parent is that your first child's first milestones are really first milestones for you as well.  While we've already been through school ourselves and may even have some memories of preschool and/or Kindergarten, it is not nearly the same as being a parent to a child going off to his or her very first day of school.  

I have been worrying for weeks about how Shay would do.  While I know that worry doesn't really help anything, I worried just the same.  Will Shay be scared?  Will she make friends?  Will she have a good teacher?  Will she behave?  Will she be able to get her lunch box open and get into all of her food packages?  Will she eat?  Will she do okay with pottying?  She's been potty trained for a long time and does great at home and out and about with us but she tends to not tell people she doesn't know well when she has to go.  The kids are expected to be able to be completely independent so, if she does have an accident, she's supposed to be able to change her outfit herself.  Which brought on more worry.  She gets frustrated when she can't easily get her clothing on and pitches a fit.  Will she be able to dress herself okay, especially in her school uniform clothing that is a little trickier than her "street clothes?"  

Those are just some of the things flying through my mind directly relating to Shay.  I've also been worried about all of the things with adjusting to a new schedule.  Jeff has been home with Shay for the last 3 years.  I know that this will be a big change for him.  He's also in the midst of searching for a job so, once he gets hired, we'll have to figure out all of the logistics of who is dropping Shay off at school in the morning, who is getting her in the afternoon and what to do about childcare if there is time between when the school day ends and when we can leave work.  It's strange, even though I'll still see Shay the same amount of time I have been since I work full-time, I feel like I will be much more worried about her on a day-to-day basis.  When she's home with Jeff, I could call anytime I wanted to see how she was doing.  Jeff would sent pictures and texts and we could chat via Facetime.  Now, I cannot just bombard the school all day long wondering how she's doing.  I was worried about a bunch of small things as well...even down to trying to figure out the flow of traffic and all of the nuances that the school has in place about drop off and pick up procedures, traffic flow, rule sets, etc.  

I also have been getting teary eyed over the past few days just thinking about how fast our baby is growing up.  How she's becoming more independent.  How the quote, "The days are long but the years are short" is so very true.  I figured I would cry on her first day.  I figured wrong...instead I cried a couple of days before her first day.  Jeff even thought he might cry too.

But our little girl amazed us.  She did not cry at all.  Usually if she's around people she doesn't know, she gets really shy and doesn't say a word.  However, once we got to the school, she was just fascinated.  She willingly let the teacher's assistant, Ms. Jeannie, take her into the classroom with a bunch of the older kids in her class and said a loud "Hello" to her teacher.  They took off before we even really had a chance to hug her but we didn't want to call her back and make it seem like a big deal so we just said goodbye to her and walked out of the classroom.  

As we were in the hallway, a mom was walking away from another classroom with her hands on her forehead nervously saying, "Oh my God, she's crying.  She's crying!  I can't stand it!"  I felt so bad for her.  I know that could have easily been me had Shay cried as we walked out.  The school held a "Boo Hoo Party" for the new parents and I saw several teared up faces.  I think Jeff and I were just so happy that Shay didn't seem scared or cry and that her teacher, Mr. Morell, seems so good with kiddos.  We actually walked away feeling pretty good.

Today was only a half day so we were back to pick her up at 11:30am.  Let me tell you, it was really weird for both Jeff and I to be at our house together without Shay.  Normally if one of us is home without her, it's because the other one is out with her.  To be just the two of us was strange.  Good, but strange.  It's amazing how this little person comes into your life and you completely forget what life was like before them.  

It was the sweetest thing seeing the teachers and staff come out of the school with small groups of 3 and 4 year old's.  All were wearing their uniforms and they just looked so darn cute.  When Mr. Morell came out of the building with Shay, she was happy as a clam.  She gave me a big smile and hug when I walked over to meet her.  She had a blast!  When we asked her what she did today, her first response was, "I went potty at school!"  Haha, thankfully she used the bathroom.  Upon opening her lunch carrier, I saw that several of the items were missing which made me happy because it not only meant that she ate something but that someone helped her open the packages.  Shay said that she has friends at school and likes her teacher.  She's even excited to go back next week.  Rousing success for day 1 I'd say!  I hope that she continues to enjoy it.  We think she's been getting bored at home and is ready for new challenges.  

Here are some pictures of her (and our) big day:

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