Dear Kennerly,
Today was your very first day of school. Yes, you are only 19 months old, but off to school you went! Since I have been blessed to be able to stay home with you, we have been going to classes and places for you to interact with other kids your age for quite some time. You started swim class at 5 months, music class when you were one and we go to playgrounds all the time for you to explore and meet other people your size (or, usually bigger;) But, being a teacher myself, I wanted to make sure you were getting all you could get, and as much as I cherish our time together, I need to be a bit selfless and share you with the world so that you can learn, grow and see things with AND without me by your side.
Daddy and I talked about when we would want to look into a preschool program for you and we decided a Two's program would be a good time. We didn't see a need for you to go earlier, plus you won't be two until January anyway so really you would be two and a half going in if we started you next Fall and that suited us fine. A few months went by, your curiosity, vocabulary and vision of the world around you continued to grow. We still went to music and swim class every week, played with friends, learned new things, but I started to think you might be ready for something more. So, we talked about it again and decided to check into some schools in the area for a few days a week, just to see.
The first school we toured, we loved. They seemed to really have their stuff together, it was clean, well managed and adorable:) I also think that having worked in a preschool, I had an idea of what to look for and what to look out for. There were no red flags and it all felt like a place our family could fit in. We left the tour, talked about it and signed you up that day. Two days a week for four hours. In mommy time, that is an eternity. I have never been consistently away from you for any extended period of time, we've never hired anyone other than family as a babysitter and the thought of you being in someone else's care for that period of time, while exciting, was scary for me too. But I know it's the best for you and also will be good for me. I'm a firm believer in that parent's are better at parenting when they have some time to themselves. Even if that just means a non interrupted shower!
So, today we packed up your lunch, dressed you for a day of fun, and off we went to bring you to your first day. We met your teacher and saw your classroom last week at the meet and greet and you enjoyed every minute of that night so you were excited to see the room again. If it hadn't been for the loud door making a big noise right as we dropped you off, I don't think you would have noticed that we left. You cried for a minute because the sound startled you, then you were fine and playing with baby dolls again. You waved at us from the classroom window and off we went. Daddy said he saw your lip start to quiver, and I am very thankful I missed that because I'm not sure I could have walked away.
We get a daily report of what you're doing and when we picked you up your teachers said you had a wonderful day. That when we left you played and played then stopped, looked around, said "mommy? daddy?" but went back to playing. All that was going through my mind all day was "if she were really upset, they would just call us right?" to which Daddy continued to reassure me that, yes, they would call and no, you were not crying all day.
Then, we received pictures of you enjoying school! This was the best part (other than you lighting up and saying, "Mommy! Daddy!" when you saw is through the window at pickup) of the day!
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| Fun at recess driving the car and saying, "beep! beep!" |
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| Your teacher said you got to choose which color paint you wanted, then you had fun painting and asked for more when you needed it:) |
So, you had a wonderful first day and we're so proud of you!
Love,
Mommy & Daddy
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