Today, Diana started her first day of Preschool. I've had mixed feelings about this day coming. My husband did preschool as a child and has always expressed an interest in putting our kids in preschool when they're old enough. I never did preschool as a kid and felt I turned out great. To be honest, I never liked the idea of preschool, because I always thought of it as an excuse for parents to get rid of their kids for a few hours a week, and I feel at this age, they should be spending as much time with family as possible before they're off to school full time for 12 years. Well, Mike and I had many discussions (some heated, admittedly) about putting Diana in preschool, and finally he won. So, he found someone who does preschool, I asked around to some of my sisters-in-law and one of my sisters who all put their kids in preschool, asking them their thoughts and opinions on their individual experiences (They all highly recommended it!), and then we signed Diana up. We chose an awesome lady we know from our old ward (My husband is good friends with her husband and they are a great family) who does preschool and who lives just a couple of minutes up the road from us, which made me feel better about the whole preschool thing. Her husband is a teacher and she's been doing preschool for many years, so that also made me feel better, too, knowing she'd be in very capable hands.
Then, today came. I was so nervous, but Diana was EXCITED. From the moment she woke up, all she seem to talk about was going to school. Finally, the time came to leave, so we put on her shoes and backpack, and we left. By this point, I was feeling much better about the whole preschool thing and was anxious to see how she'd do (I'd like to point out I never shared any of my emotions or thoughts on preschool with her, I wanted to see her true feelings and thoughts on preschool herself as she was experiencing them). I walked her to the door and knocked. As soon as I knocked, confident Diana turned shy and ran behind me, clutching my leg. I could sense her anxiety set in as she realized this was really happening. Her teacher opened to door and greeted her, and I gently pushed her inside. Once she got inside, I could see her anxiety totally disappear, and Daniel and I said goodbye and left.
As I strapped Daniel into his carseat, I felt myself get choked up. I don't leave my kids..like, ever..so, it was very weird to know that one was going to be on her own for the next 2 1/2 hours in someone else's care. But, I was also excited for Diana. I knew she was going to enjoy herself, as she is VERY social.
Daniel and I then headed to some stores to find him some much needed church shoes and sneakers...and to pass some time. After we finally found him what he needed (it's hard finding little boy shoes, and in his size!), we went home, snacked, cleaned a little, and then it was time to go pick her up again, so we headed out. We showed up about 6-7 minutes early, so we sat outside in the car and listened to music as the other parents showed up until it was time to get out and get her. I walked with Daniel only halfway to the door when I heard Diana's excited squeals of "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY'S HERE!!" and I saw her sprinting towards me with her little backpack on. She held me hand as we walked to the car and excitedly began to tell me all about school. The whole drive home she shared what she learned and what she did. She couldn't get the smile off of her face.
She had SO MUCH FUN and is so jazzed to go back on Thursday. That's when I got the idea to make a "Days of the Week" calendar on our white board in the kitchen to help her keep track of what day of the week it is, so she knows what activity she has going on that day. I'm hoping it will also help her learn the days of the week and what order they occur in.
And how did I end up feeling about this whole homeschooling thing? AMAZING! EXCITED! SO glad Mike pushed me into it. I saw the pure joy on her face and her confidence level and self esteem just shoot through the roof from the moment I picked her up, and I've known since that very first moment that this was the absolute right decision and will be so good for her. I'm excited to see her learn and grow as time goes on.
