Ellie’s First Day of Pre-School *Sniff* *Sniff*

I woke up extra early to make sure that we wouldn’t be running around like crazy people at 8:59am to be at pre-school by 9AM. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I got her all dolled up in her new school clothes, which were absolutely adorable, fed her a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and a banana and had plenty of time to snap a couple of pictures at home before we left the house. She was so excited about wearing her Pooh Bear ‘pack-pack’ (as she calls it) and carrying her own lunch box. She also wanted to carry her Pooh Bear nap mat but I thought it was too much so she “let me” help with that. Although we had been talking about school for a few weeks now, would point out her school every time we drove by it (almost daily), and meet her teachers Mrs. Kristen & Mrs. Wendy, I don’ t think that she completely understood what was about to happen.

On the way to school we chatted about the friends she’d make at school, the things to get to do and the great teachers she was going to have. When we arrived our neighbors were just arriving too which is great because she got to walk in with Marin (our 3yr old neighbor who Ellie LOVES!) on her first day.

As soon as we walked in she said, “Mommy, I see boy. Mommy, I see girl”. This was a good sign. Then we got to the class room and as I’m signing her in I told her about the kids that were playing in the room. She asked me to pick her up and said “I wanna see…I wanna see”. Well, once I picked her up she was ready to peel herself off of my arms and jump right in. Without any hesitation she said, “Bye Mommy” and went straight into Mrs. Kristen’s arms.

What? No tears, No “don’t leave me mommy”, No NOTHING! I’ve known for a while that she was ready to go to some sort of school but I had no idea she was this ready! I quickly waved and walked away with a lump in my throat. I’m not sure why though. I was kinda disappointed that she didn’t cry but relieved too. My baby girl just had her first day of school! Where has the time gone?

Now what? I have almost all day to myself and didn’t plan a darn thing to do. What was I thinking? Thankfully my sister asked me to go to breakfast and we spent 2 hours at IHOP catching up. A short stack of pancakes and some coffee helped me feel a lot better.

The entire time Ellie was at school, I was checking voicemail and sprinting to the phone after every ring to make sure that the school hadn’t called and nothing. Two ‘o clock finally came and it was time to pick her up. I was shocked to find her asleep on her Pooh Bear mat!! I thought it would take weeks before they could get her to take a nap. Mrs. Wendy said that she got her mat, placed it on the floor and went right to sleep.

Why is it not this easy at home? She also said that Ellie was one of only two kiddos that participated in the music time and story time. She said that Ellie followed directions very well, would say “please” and “thank you”, and was a joy to have. I was so proud of her! Even though she didn’t eat too much at lunch everything else was great. For the first day of pre-school Ellie earned an A+! Good job baby girl. We love you!

XOXO
Michelle