It's now been almost a week and I still can't believe Ryan, Caitlin, and Madison are in school! They officially started Monday and will go M-W-F 8:30-12:00 for the next 9 months. What a huge milestone in our family! I am so thrilled with my 10 hours a week of freedom, but after having to pretty much plan in advance any break from them for the past 3 years, its actually going to take me a bit to get used to it! (I'm sure it won't take
too long!)
On Monday morning, they were all excited and happy to get ready for school. We took pictures on the front porch and everyone was all smiles. On the drive over to school we talked about how much fun they were going to have and Caitlin asked for 2 balloons when she got home like JP had. When we arrived at the school we headed for their class. I guess a lot of parents had arrived early so they asked them to play on the playground. We arrived only 5 minutes early and the director told us we could just wait in their classroom. We hung up backpacks and soon Ms. Ebony arrived. Caitlin immediately found a Dora toy and was fine. Ryan seemed fine and started playing with cars. It was Madison who first started with "Mommy, I need to go potty". I took her in, but she couldn't go. Then it started, she began to cry. Ryan stood up and came over and said "You are not going to leave." Then he started the crying, that quickly turned into screaming "You are not going to leave!!" He even hit me he was so mad! Madison was coming up with every excuse for me to stay. I need this, I need that. At one point Caitlin came up and tried to give Ryan a hug and he just pushed her away! There is no actual door on their classroom, so finally I had to escape out the fire exit door on the back. Ryan was literally pounding on the door screaming as I walked away. Oh my goodness- I thought there may be some tears, but the screaming!
When I came back at noon, they were all sitting quietly listening to a book. I saw as they each got a sticker at the end of the day. Everyone was happy! Ms. Ebony said they actually did good. She said they stopped crying and had a good day. In the first day alone they played with toys, sang songs, went on the playground, had oatmeal with fruit and milk for snack, painted a picture and listened to a story. Ms. Ebony did mention on the playground that Ryan & Madison together tried to pull Caitlin off the monkey bars. We all discussed how they shouldn't do that again. On both Wednesday and Friday, the first thing that Ryan has said to me when he saw me at noon was "I didn't pull Caiti off the monkey bars today!" All proud of himself!
The rest of the week went fine. The girls told me on Wednesday that Ryan did cry a little after I left, but on Friday no one cried. I know they are having fun when they are there and it will be so good for them to interact with other kids. They have been having great snacks too. On Wednesday they had eggs and cheese with oranges and on Friday they had biscuits with jelly and fruit. They keep telling me snack is one of their favorite things at school! They made play-doh on Friday and had fun with that as well. Hopefully after the long holiday weekend we can get back in the swing of things, but right now we're off to a good start!
Of course I have lots of pictures of the 1st day!
Official backpack shot!
Little Maddi - initially scared, but now Loves School!
Caitlin- the preschool All-Star!
Ryan- the 1st day Lion!
I dressed Ryan in the same outfit JP wore 5 years ago on his 1st day of preschool!! :)
Hanging up their backpacks!
Here we go!
Caitlin immediately found some dolls to play with:
Ryan headed for the cars!
Here they are- telling me about their 1st day!
Their 1st day treat. They each got a Great Job balloon just like their big brother along with a yellow, red and pink one (their favorite colors!).
