A Major Milestone

Today was Lauren's first day in preschool. It's going to be tough going to school on Thursdays because she didn't get to sleep until after 10:00 last night. Ughhh!!! But she still woke on her own around 6:50 this morning. No matter what time that girl goes to bed at night, she still wakes up early in the mornings, usually somewhere between 6:00-7:00. We have a rule that says she cannot get out of the bed until the clock has a 7 at the beginning. (For a while she was getting up at 6:00 and playing in her closet.) She will still test the rule and try to get up before 7:00 on some mornings, but for the most part she does pretty well. If she does wake up early she will either sing her favorite songs or tell her favorite stories. Right now her favorite song is "When the Saints Go Marching In" and her favorite story is "Jack and the Beanstalk".

Back to preschool....(I kind of got sidetracked) Lauren walked right in to class and was able to complete a scavenger hunt of her room, finding her name for the attendance board, finding her cubbyhole to put her backpack in, locating the bathroom (which she needed to use), find her name on the behavior Stop Light, and then find a center to play in. She chose the house center which included a kitchen with table and chairs, a washer, dryer and iron (she sees Mommy doing lots of laundry), and dolls. She took up housekeeping complete with a table full of dolls. She is really into dolls these days.

After some free play, her teacher called the group together to read "The Kissing Hand". We painted our hands together and left hand prints on a large cut-out heart. Very cute idea!! Then it was time for parents to go. As I predicted, after I kissed Lauren and said goodbye, off she went and she didn't even look back. Walking out of her room, I thought this isn't so bad....but the closer I got to the van without my little girl.....the tears started coming. Thank goodness for my sunglasses. It was a very lonely drive by myself to pick up Allison who was at the mall enjoying time with Grandma. Luckily I had scheduled a doctor's appointment at 9:30, so I didn't allow myself to cry too long. When I picked Lauren up after school ,the paint on her arms and the dirt on her clothes from recess told me that she had a great first day of school. Her eagerness to go back on Tuesday and meet all her new friends tells me she is going to like school!!