Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Start of School....

...preschool, that is. :)

Madelyn had her first day of preschool on Monday. We were all so very excited to see how she would do. Sunday night was a difficult night for us because she was so excited that she couldn't stop talking....long past her bedtime. After a little coaxing, and a gentle reminder that the sooner she went to sleep, the sooner she could wake up, she finally fell asleep, and Chris and I enjoyed some quiet time before heading to bed ourselves.

At about 6:15 AM, Madelyn came into our bedroom, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, proudly exclaiming, "I'm a preschooler! I'm a preschooler!" "Okay then," I thought as I tried pull myself out of bed. Here we go...

Madelyn insisted on braids Sunday night so that she could have "curls" for her first day of school. This is a new favorite of hers, which makes me laugh because I work so hard to get rid of my curls. But it is a nice trick that frees me up in the morning when I am trying to get two people ready, so I don't complain. I really am (for the most part) happy that she is starting to develop her own since of style. God knows her mother has zero sense of style, so I am typically of no use when it comes to that. She knows what she likes, that's for sure, and she doesn't usually keep it to herself.

Chris decided to go into work late so we could both drop her off at school, so it was nice to have the extra set of hands to help be sure we had everything. Lunchbox - check. Backpack - check. Change of clothes - check. Parent signature form - check. School project - check. Holy cow this preschool business is a lot of work. ;)


And off to school we went...


The drop-off was smooth as butter. We walked her to the room where she gets to have breakfast, and she dropped her backpack and lunchbox at the door, turned to give both Chris and I a hug and kiss, and simply said, "Bye Mommy and Daddy. I love you." We are so blessed. It was wonderful to be able to walk away with no tears from anyone. Not even Daddy. ;)

End of Week Update

I am happy to report that we have completed four of the five days of preschool, and every one has been a success. Drop offs and pick ups are great, and apparently she does well during the day. Well, at least we haven't heard otherwise, so we'll assume the best.

I have really enjoyed our new conversations this week. At first I have to really pry to get answers, but she usually gives in and tells me some of her favorite things from the day. For example, she loves Circle Time when her teacher reads stories. She also loves recess (shocker!) and playing with Marissa. I can see her little mind working in overdrive already. Her expressions are bigger, and her descriptions of things are vivid. She told us of the "bear hunt" they went on, and how they learned new rhymes. Her favorite so far: "Zip it. Lock it. Put it in your pocket." (That's the cute preschooler way of saying be quiet, or keep a secret. I'm not really sure.) Apparently you can make anything into a song or rhyme when you're three, and that suits Madelyn just fine.

Tonight we were hanging on the floor in her bedroom, and all of a sudden her eyes got big, and she jumped up and ran to the bookshelf. She pulled a book off the shelf and came over to me asking, "Do you know what this is?" pointing to the book. I said, "That's a book." She said, "No, Mommy. What's this?" I said, "What is that?" She proudly exclaimed, "It's a spine!" I chuckled because she was indeed pointing to the spine of the book. And then she went on to tell me about the spine in her back, and how they both hold things together. I was tickled. I love watching her grow and learn. Listening to her excitement as she explained this new information was so awesome! I am looking forward to all the new things she will certainly teach us!
 

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