First days of preschool!

Noah had his first day at preschool this week! The school was supposed to start on Monday, but due to the rains and flooding from Tropical Storm Lee, it was postponed until Wednesday. Apparently, they had to hang all of the carpets up and let them dry out over the whole weekend.

On Tuesday, I mentioned that he would be starting school the next day, he got mad, and said he didn't want to talk about it. So, I decided it was time for a new approach. I said, Noah, let's play "Noah goes to playschool!" We proceeded to act it out. I asked him if he wanted to be the teacher, or the boy. He wanted to start as the boy. I pretended I was Mrs. Griffen (his teacher's name), and greeted him warmly as he came in. I told him we could paint, and play with the toys. We then proceeded to have circle time, playground time, snack time, and at one point, painted for real. We took turns -- he played teacher once, but we started again about 5 times with him being the boy. Did this on Wednesday morning as well.

Then, it was time to really go! We took some pictures (will edit this to post some soon), and Nano took him off to Kid View! When they got there, Noah immediately said, "Pick me up, Papa." Nano picked him up, and they found his classroom and his teacher. There were a couple of kids there, and some playdough. Nano said, "Noah, let's make pizza, just like Caillou!" (Noah had just watched an episode of Caillou making pizza. ) Noah excitedly said, "Yeah, can you play with me, Papa?" Noah and Nano sat down, and Nano talked to the teacher, giving her all of the supplies, etc., as he played with Noah. Then, at just the right moment, he said, "Okay Noah, is this a good time to go?" Noah replied, "Yeah." Nano gave him a hug and a kiss, and away he went.

When I picked him up at noon, Noah seemed a little anxious. There were lots of parents, kids and teachers moving around at that critical hour. The first thing he said was, "We didn't go to the playground today." Mrs. Griffen said, "No, we didn't. But, we are going to go to the playground tomorrow." Then, we walked to the car with Bianca (she will be picking him up). We got in, and he said he had fun. I didn't get too much out of him, except that they had drawn a picture that day that they would be taking home later.

Day 2 went well too, though there were more people around and there was a bit more craziness at first. Noah looked for the play dough, but it wasn't out, and he was reluctant to play with anything else. The teacher figured this out, and offered to bring it out. Then, he settled in, and had another successful goodbye.

When I got home that day, we played school again. This time, we had to "hold onto the ring" to "go all the way down the hall, and up the stairs, to go to the playground." "You have to be very careful in the driveway and hold onto the ring." He was clearly listening intently! He later started showing his Thomas the Train book to the class, asking, "Does anyone know what this is?" and "Right! It's Hackaback (made up names)!" Later, when I was playing Mrs. Griffen, he came over and gave me a hug. He must be very comfortable there already! He also said Mrs. Griffen had a musical book, and proceeded to sing a song about a hammer.

Today was day 3, and I got to do drop off. Once again, it went extremely smoothly! He liked it so much, he asked to stay for lunch. Mrs. Griffen told me that he is doing very well in the class, that he is following along with everything. I answered that I am so proud of him. And I really am!! He has come so far from the 2 year old who thought he would die if he were to be separated from me! Granted, this place is much, much better with the transition for the new children, and it is a very loving environment. It is much better suited to his personality. But again, I am so proud of him, and am looking forward to watching him blossom in new ways with this new experience!