Tuesday, September 02, 2008
First day of preschool!
A few days ago Emma gave us our first hint of worry when she declared she didn't want
to go to school. That was the first we'd heard of that. She had been gung-ho for school for as long as we'd been talking about it. Her declaration of opposition put us on the defensive. We kept trying to remind her gently that school was coming. We'd tell her she'd get to play, sing songs, color, read books, have all sorts of fun.

This morning it was time to go. She didn't put up a fuss, not one peep of protest. She was a bit subdued, but otherwise fine. When we arrived at the church where the preschool meets Emma held my hand going inside. We met Ms. Sylvia at the door. One other girl was already there and one boy was coming in behind us. I could see Emma kind of crawl into her shell. New kids always freak her out. She's usually not at all outgoing and very shy of kids she doesn't know.

I gave her a kiss and hug and told her goodbye. She didn't cling or cry or anything. I was the one overwhelmed with nervousness at it all. I tried my best to hide it from her.

It seemed like a long three hour wait.

M was the one who picked her up. I told him he had to report every detail; leave nothing out. When he arrived they were playing on the playground. When she walked up to him, before he even got a word out, Emma said, "Daddy, I really like school." Ms. Sylvia told M that Emma "handled it like a pro."

On the way to Mary's M asked Emma if she learned any names of her new friends. She told him she didn't know any. Later on he asked her again, just to be sure. She fussed at him, "I told you I don't know any names. Don't ask me that anymore!" Apparently she also whined a bit about not wanting to go to Mary's, but by the time she arrived she was fine. This new schedule will take a little getting used to.

Later I saw Ms. Sylvia and she said the only other thing that she thought was funny/cute was when they went to the bathroom Emma acted like she couldn't wash her own hands. We do usually help her with that. She played the "helpless" card on each teacher once.

She came home with a butterfly colored in and a schedule for the month. The theme this month is Butterflies, Bees and Bugs. Yay! Oh, and I need to sign up to contribute snack for one day this month. Joy!

I tried to take a quick first-day-of-school picture.


She wanted me to take another one, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Sesame Street long enough to look at the camera.

Written at 5:35 PM by Highlandgal.
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