The First Day (of Many)

It's official! Our baby now goes to school!! Tuesday was her very first day, and she really seemed to like it. She played with Thomas the train, blocks, puzzles, a hypercolor thingy; she danced with her new friends, played in the sandbox at recess, and enjoyed snacktime and storytime.

The only catch was that Mommy was there with her the whole time (as were all the other mommies).

Today was different, though. Today was her first day at school by herself -- that is, without me. And she did GREAT.


I had been preparing her for this day for a while, telling her that Mommy would stay with her at school just for that first day, but after that, I would have to leave her with her teacher and new friends. Later, whenever we'd talk about school, she'd say to me, "You're going to pick me up." And I'd say, "Yes, that's right."

And funny thing, today Mrs. Martin mentioned to me and another mom that most of the kids this age don't quite get the concept that Mommy is going to come back to get them. I replied, "That's interesting, because Emily kept reminding me that I was going to be back to pick her up. I had been occasionally mentioning that to her, and it really seemed to be the thing that stuck with her." So I guess that really is important to a three-year-old: knowing that Mommy or Daddy will be back and definitely won't desert her.

It's amazing. I was the one who ended up having a problem separating. I dropped her off this morning (Daddy was able to stay with Leah before heading off to work), and I found myself lingering and stalling. I must've said goodbye three or four times and kissed her goodbye at least twice. Both times she said, "Bye, Mommy" and then promptly turned back to the little kitchen set she was playing with. I approached Mrs. Martin and explained, "Emily's completely fine; I'm the one with the problem!" She said, "Oh, I know. Don't worry." (I'm sure she's heard that a thousand times!)

When I returned to pick her up, I learned that Emily and her classmates painted pictures (one look at her shirt gave that away) and played with Play-Doh. She informed me that Anthony ate some of her pretzels at snacktime. (Mrs. Martin later explained that Anthony was sitting right next to Em and had pretzels of his own, but when he ran out, he went ahead and helped himself to hers. :-)

Stephen and I are so excited about this new chapter in our baby's life. It's crazy to me that just six months or so ago, Emily wasn't quite ready for this. But now she most definitely is. Three hours twice a week is just what the doctor ordered. It's wonderful that she can go out there and learn and play with other little people and have a blast.

This is only the beginning!








p.s.
This marks my 200th post!