First Day of Preschool

Today was the big day.... Anna's first day at preschool! We went twice last week to visit for about an hour each time so that she could get some exposure to the room, the teacher, the kids, etc. before going cold turkey (aka. no mommy). She loved it and on Friday on the way home said "Mommy, thanks so much for taking me there". Little did she know what she was in for this week!

After talking it up big all weekend, this morning came the big drop off. Getting out of the car our   conversation went like this:
Anna: "Mommy, why are you going to leave me?"
Me: "Because Mommies don't stay at school, Sweetheart"
Anna: "But that is how you will lose me..."
Tears started to well up in my eyes and I quickly assured her that I was not going to lose her while she was at school. 

With that, we headed into school and her classroom, found her cubby and put all her stuff away. We said our goodbyes and her teacher immediately called her over so she could start her first art project of the day. Anna scurried over and I was able to leave without causing a scene.

For the next 3 hours I kept my phone nearby waiting for the inevitable "Your child is having a full meltdown, please come get her" phone call which never came. I went to pick her up and happened to pull into the parking lot at the very end of Anna's class' time on the playground. She was playing with a little boy and seemed to be doing pretty well. I did notice that when it was time to go back inside she was holding the teacher's hand which led me to think things had not been all roses while I was gone.

When school was over, Anna came out of her classroom and seemed ok - immediately started asking me questions and pointing out her paper stocking that was now on the wall in the hallway. After talking to the teacher I learned that she did pretty well for her first day. She was ok until about an hour before school was over but then the teacher noticed tears in Anna's eyes. She went over to see if she was ok, only to be told "I just miss Mommy..." After a few more episodes of tears it was time to go outside and play. The teacher told her that Mommy was probably already in the car on her way to pick Anna up and this seems to have pulled her through the rest of the day. I'll admit, this report was better than I was expecting! We said goodbye and "see you tomorrow" to the teacher with waves and smiles. We'll see if those smiles are still there in the morning when I drop her off again!

All in all, a good day's work Anna! I'm so proud of you!

Getting ready to leave for school (with her doggie's help)

On the way to school (note: doggie came with us)

School!

This is the paparazzi style photo I took from the car when I arrived to pick her up :) Playing happily with a friend!

I picked up a special treat for the end of her lunch - a snowman cookie!

After the previous photo was taken she made a face and told me to scrape all the frosting off. I did my best but there were still some remnants I couldn't get off so we switched to the cookies her friend Grace made for her - MUCH better!