She ate her breakfast, watched some My Little Pony, and got dressed for school -- asking "When is it time to go to school?" about every five minutes. Another good sign. I basically just kept my mouth shut and let her lead all the school conversations. I didn't want to say the wrong thing. At 9:20 we all piled into the van and made the 1 minute commute to her preschool. Have I mentioned that the preschool is SUPER close to our house?? I love that. We could walk if we needed to but we'd have to go a couple blocks down to a crosswalk since there's a busy 4-lane street separating us from the school. But if we HAD to we could do it. It would just take a lot longer than 1 minute.
She hopped out of the van and informed me that she was going to go sit by the church doors and wait for me and the boys. Um, okay.... Scout and Timber and I met her at the doors and we all walked inside. She led the way to her room and gave her teacher a huge grin before hanging up her backpack and walking into the classroom. I said goodbye and gave her a kiss and the boys and I headed out the door. (They were incredibly cute, by the way! I had asked Scout to hold Timber's hand in the parking lot and they continued to hold hands the whole time we were in the preschool building.) And that was it! Smiles.....no tears......no sad faces or pleas to come home with us. Awesome! I can totally handle this!
Many of you have heard about (or experienced!) my rocky start to school. I think this is why I was so apprehensive about Flora starting school. Here's a brief summary of what I put my parents through:- My birthday was on the cutoff day so my parents were given the choice to send me to Kindergarten or wait until the next year. They chose to send me. Bad choice.
- I cried when my mom dropped me off at school. Every day. For a couple months.
- The teacher suggested I leave Kindergarten and start again the following year. Yes, I am a Kindergarten drop out. She comforted my parents with the fact that I was definitely ready for Kindergarten intellectually, but not socially/emotionally ready yet. I'm sure that was a great comfort to them. "Yeah, your daughter is smart but she's socially awkward." I wonder what kind of future my parents saw for me at that point.....??
- Started Kindergarten the following year. Cried. Hid behind a trash can on the first day and refused to come out. Hated school. Rolled my eyes every time we were forced to "do the hokey pokey." Yes, I was THAT kid.
- Cried on the first day of school all the way up to fifth grade. I didn't cry on the first day of fifth grade but I definitely got teary-eyed. The scent of freshly sharpened pencils still puts a knot in my belly to this day.
- Was prone to crying fits whenever anything new or unexpected presented itself throughout elementary school. Substitute teacher? Cry. Boy chased me at recess? Cry. Lose a tooth at school? Cry.
- Went to the nurses office often with stomach aches. Why couldn't she just send me home??? I was obviously very very sick.
- Did not talk to boys AT ALL until junior high. Denied the very existence of boys to my parents. It's true. I actually told them there weren't any boys in my Kindergarten class. And I have no idea why. I had good relationships with my dad and all the other men I knew. I didn't have a problem talking to my boy cousins. Just the boys at school. (any Big Bang Theory fans??? Think Raj.) Again, I can only imagine what kind of future my parents saw for me!!
But you can see why I am nervous about Flora starting school. I'm not sure how I could handle a huge emotional meltdown of hers while trying to keep Scout and Timber from leaving the building or eating other people's lunches or ransacking the director's office. I am praying that her preschool days will continue to go as smoothly as these first two have.
Flora's favorite part of preschool: Skittles. Oh, and fruit snacks.
Flora's least favorite part of preschool: Naptime.
