Raise Your Hand if You're Ready for Some PRESCHOOL!

I am!

Not sure if the kids are, but I am really looking forward to:
a) everybody around here having more of a set routine;
b) each kid getting the age-appropriate activities and attention they deserve; and
c) not having to care for three children 24-7!  (I am allowed one selfish reason, right?)

Georgia's first day is tomorrow.  A confession:  I have been getting really jealous lately of all the facebook updates and blog posts about the wonderful school experiences of everyone's super well-adjusted kids.  I can't help it.  School was such an uber-disaster for our family last fall that I think to myself that nobody appreciates how lucky they are, and how easy they have it.

But enough of my pity-party, because we've all got our own challenges.  (And in the grand scheme of things, as stressful as it all seemed at the time, if I'm filing preschool dropout under "family uber disaster", well then I guess I've got a pretty posh life.)  I was (naively) optimistic about Georgia's first day of preschool last year, and I'm optimistic again this year.  She really has matured and changed a lot.  Also, last year's school was primarily selected for its proximity to our home, whereas this year's school was primarily selected for its ability to allow Georgia to phase into it slowly.  She started going to a mom and tot class there with me once a week last winter, and then did a three year old "transition" class that met once a week for a couple of hours this spring, and then again for a short session this July.  So the grand plan has been that when she shows up tomorrow, it won't feel so new, and she'll at least feel comfortable in the building and hopefully recognize a few faces.  But beyond that, she really is doing so much better these days anyway with her separation anxiety and at adjusting to new situations and people.  Fingers crossed for a happy report tomorrow!   

The funny thing is that we tried to not make too big a deal out of the start of preschool this year, attempting to bill it as, "Oh, the next session of your school is starting," as if it were really just a continuation of what she had already been doing.  Well, she's no dummy, so between the new larger backpack, the new lunch bag, and everyone talking about "back to school", she's WAY keyed up for this.  Oh, and let's not forget the greatest thing of all:  the ballet slippers!  Her school requires everyone to take off their shoes and wear ballet slippers all day, I guess so that the floors stay clean and the kids clobber each other less.  So Saturday we picked up a pair of ballet shoes at Target and she has been infatuated ever since.  Wearing them to bed.  Refusing to go to the park because it would mean taking off the slippers.  Putting Joe's tube socks on over them just so that she can join us for dinner on the porch without taking off the ballet shoes.  She woke up yesterday morning with a big blister from having worn them 'round the clock with no socks.  The blister was a blessing in disguise, because it's the only thing that's made her relent and remove the slippers.  I was beginning to get worried that the biggest problem on her first day of school would not be saying goodbye to mom and dad, but changing into regular shoes for recess.  Oh well - we should be so lucky, right?


One day when I get around to it I'll update the food allergy blog to share our experiences with this school on that front, but for now suffice it to say that they've said all the right things to make us feel comfortable and have been nothing but understanding, so we're feeling good about that.