First Day of Preschool or Should I Say Naptime

Some information before I start my story. Boog has been accepted into a speech therapy preschool. It is just like a normal preschool but it focuses on speech and once a week he will have a 30 minute, one on one sessions with a speech therapist. It is a two day a week program and the preschool is apart of our local elementary school system. I am so excited he is getting the extra help he needs.

This week was Boog’s first day of preschool. The night before I was a bundle of nerves, it took me forever to fall asleep. I stayed up and made a little sign for him to wear for the picture I was going to take just outside of the classroom. I set my alarm (even though Boog is my alarm everyday of the week, 5 am sharp) to make sure I had plenty of time to get up, get dressed, pack his school snack, make breakfast, get both of the kids ready, and make it to school a little bit early so I had time to take a couple of pictures before class started.

My alarm goes off at 6 am and half asleep I hit the snooze button (what can I say; if it isn’t Boog poking me in the arm or jumping on me to get up I have a tendency not to. Oops!). Then at 7am I wake up with a start.  What is going on, Boog is always up long before this time in the morning. I wasn’t complaining though, sleeping more than 3 or 4 is a rarity for me. So I get up, pack his snack, his backpack, get dressed, make some pancakes and Boog finally wonders out to the living room at 7:30am. I quickly get him dressed and have him sit down for breakfast and go get Littles up.

Littles is my sleeper; she usually doesn’t get up until 8:30 or 9 am. Waking her up at 7:35am didn’t make her a happy camper. She was super fussy and it made getting her ready a bit of a challenge. Soon Littles joins Boog at the breakfast table. While they are eating I pack my camera in my purse and did a couple odds and ends.

At 8am I packed both kids in the car with Boog’s backpack and paperwork for preschool and then we were off to school. It is only a couple of minutes away and class starts @ 8:30 so I have plenty of time for pictures.

We arrive at school and are walking from the parking lot to class and we see the school psychologist. We say good morning to her and she then say “Aren’t you running late?”

What!?!?!!?! That can’t be!! I know I looked at the start time a million times the night before to avoid this very thing. So I calmly say “The class starts at 8:30, that’s what the teacher told us.”  She then informs me that the class goes from 8 to 11. So I say goodbye quickly and made a quick dash for the classroom in a total panic.

Worst mother in the world, I can’t even get my kid to his first day of preschool on time!

We arrive at the class and I saw our preschool teacher. I said “I am so sorry we are late” and our teacher tells us it is only 8:15 am and we still have 15 minutes. Whew! I felt so much better. I wasn’t the worst mother in the world and I still have plenty of time to take Boog’s first day of preschool pictures.  

After I got my super cute picture of Boog wear the sign I made him, we headed inside. As I expected he instantly left my side and began to play and have fun. I signed him in and let Littles down to do some exploring of her own while we waited for his teacher to finish photocopying his immunization records for his file. Once all the paperwork was settled it was time for Littles and I to be on our way. I said goodbye to Boog, gave him a kiss and even got a cute picture of him saying goodbye.

Then he went back to his teacher and began to play again.

Just as we reached the door Littles yelled out “BYE”. Boog dropped the toy he was playing with and in a blood curdling scream he called “MAMA!”. At that very instant my heart dropped into my stomach and I froze. I wasn’t expecting this response from him. Normally he is the type of kid that is super independent and honestly doesn’t need his Mama like I have seen other kids cling to their parents. I was totally unprepared. The teacher waved me away, so I left the classroom.

As Littles and I were walking down the hall I kept telling myself “he will be fine, preschool is going to be great for him” all the while I could still hear him screaming my name. I wanted to turn back and give him a big hug and say “its okay, Mommy's here” but I knew that would only make things worst, so Littles and I headed home.

Once home I was feeling on edge and since Littles woke up before her usual time her mood wasn’t helping things. Then the phone rings, I look at the caller ID and it is his preschool. I was in shock, I had only been home for less then 5 minutes and they were calling me. I answer the phone expecting to hear he is freaking out and that I need to come and get him. It was the school psychologistBoog had calmed down. They moved him to the “Calm down” pillow to cool off. One of the teachers was sitting with him and he was talking to her. He was mainly telling her “I mad!” but he wasn’t screaming my name anymore. And that soon he would join in the activities of the day.

With the phone call my nerves were put at easy, he was calming down and would have a good first day. Before I knew it, it was time to go and pick Boog up.

I got there a little early and the kids were outside on the playground. I was looking for Boog and couldn’t find him anywhere. I started to get a little uneasy until his teacher saw me and yelled across the playground “He is inside sleeping”. I was very confused. When I got closer she told me “he curled up on the calm down pillow and went to sleep. We kept coming over and asking him to join each activity we did, but he just stayed asleep.” The teacher was wondering if he didn’t sleep well, or if maybe he was under the weather. I told her that he had slept in and I didn’t think he was ill.

I walked in the classroom to find this:

Unbelievable, the kid who wakes me up almost every morning at 5am and half the time refuses to take a nap, slept through the entire first day of preschool (okay so his class is only 2 hours and 15 minutes long, but still)!

I woke him up just as the kids were coming in from recess to do the goodbye circle. He was still half asleep but went to the rug and participated. Then we got his backpack and headed outside.

Of course as soon as we do he tells me “No Bye” and wants to play on the playground with the big kids (a Kindergarten class was having their recess). I asked the teacher if it was okay for my two little ones to join in on the fun. Once we got the okay the kids ran around and had fun. After about 15 minutes it was time for us to go. I had planed on getting him a treat to celebrate his first day of school. The only way I could pry him from the playground was to tell him about his treat.

Soon we were on our way to Starbucks for Cake Pops and a Crème Fappuccino.

It was a stressful day, I needed a treat ;)

I love that smile, even if it is covered in chocolate!