Preschool Already?

I dropped Abby off at preschool today, for the first time. She’ll be 2 years old in a few days and we wanted to get her in an environment of increased socialization and with a wide variety of activities. I thought it would be easier than it was. I leave Abby with a nanny every day, so I thought this wouldn't be much different. I was wrong.

I had a hard time sleeping last night and kept dreaming of things I forgot to pack for Abby for her first day of school. Bleary-eyed, I took her to the school this morning; she was very clingy at first until she spotted the train toys (she loves trains right now). She slowly warmed up and then I was politely asked to leave. I was okay with this, I understand longs good-byes are not good for anyone.

An hour later at 10am, I called to check up on her and the director’s response was “Abby is doing great, there have been a few meltdowns, but not from Abby. They are starting circle time, so I would recommend if you come get her, 11am would be best.” I am counting the seconds until 11am when I can pick her up and see her again! Tick tock, tick tock…

Well, I picked her up. The little ‘Duckies’ class was going from the inside to the outside play area, and Abby was first in line behind the teacher with a huge smile on her face. She appeared to be very excited to be going outside to play. I must have surprised her because the moment she saw me, she started crying, then I started crying, we were both a mess. I couldn’t pull myself together enough to ask what she did that morning, I left her sippy cup there and forgot to pay the school. It will take a few weeks to get into the swing of packing her for school, remembering to collect all her things and check and see how her morning was. It was crazy today, but all in all a good experience for her. I’m hoping Thursday goes even better, especially since it’s her birthday…