First Day of School

I began to wonder if Ainsley should start attending daycare last year.  She really doesn't get many opportunities to play with other children.  I called our church's daycare center to ask a few questions and found out that if Ainsley was potty-trained and eligible, they recommend she attend the preschool program.

I was a bit hesitant.  Ainsley will only turn three at the end of November.  She was JUST eligible.  She was still very much two years old.  Two years old in behavior all the way.  I thought we'd at least give it a try, and if it turned out poorly, we could move her to the daycare room all day.  That would get her out of the preschool teacher's hair and allow the other kids to move on in peace.

The Open House for the preschool program happened in February.  Let me just remind you that in February, Ainsley was JUST past two years old.  We were in the belly of the beast at the time.  Tantrums.  Mood swings.  Legs kicking.  Arms flailing.  And we hadn't even started potty training yet.  And I had a two week old.

Let's go to the Open House!  Woo.

We got there and an enormously perky woman greeted us.  She was the mother of children who had adored preschool.  She loved the preschool program there so much, she had volunteered to help at Open House.  She wanted to show Ainsley around the room.

Good luck, lady.  Ainsley had already decided that she was going to ignore everyone and destroy play in the kitchen area.  Mrs. Perky kept trying though.

"Want to come see the gerbil?"  Silence.

"Want to see the story area?"  Silence.

Well, this was going swimmingly.  After a while, Mrs. Perky attached herself to another young family who had walked into the room.

We let Ainsley play in the room a bit before Durham started to get fussy.  We then had to leave.  The room had slowly filled up with parents and prospective students.  They were all talking and playing quietly.

And we were about to tell our two year old that she had to leave this place of toys and wonder to go home. To make a long story short, it didn't go well.  Crying, kicking, yelling.  Baby crying.  Someone trying to get us to write a check for an "administration fee."  Oy.

Fast forward to the summer.  Ainsley is now potty-trained.  We have fewer tantrums.  She is beginning to verbalize her anger through sass instead of crying and kicking.  (Progress?)

Her teacher came over to the house for a home visit.  I believe this must be mostly so the parents can get all the "hand-outs".  Here's a worksheet for this.  Here's a worksheet for that.  Did you complete the worksheets I sent you last month?  Can you sign this worksheet to help?

Ainsley did get very excited about seeing a picture of her teacher's family.  She was also excited to show her teacher her bedroom.  While Ainsley was shy and quiet at the beginning of the visit, she opened up towards the end.  After inviting her teacher into her bedroom, she explained that certain toys were for celebrations only.  

I nearly gave that child a high five for throwing out a good vocabulary word in front of her teacher!

Time passed and it was soon the first day of school.  Ainsley could hardly sleep the night before.  She kept getting up so often that Daddy finally just brought her into our bed.  She slept like a baby after that.

Her hair was done with a bow, she picked out a shirt to wear.  I tried to get her to wear black shoes, but she insisted on the sparkly pink and white ones.  She kept dancing around the living room with her lunch bag.

Snapping a few shots in the early morning hours.  

The babysitter for Durham showed up and we were off.

She nearly sprinted to the doors.  She knew immediately which room to go to.  She didn't even want to stop to take off her backpack.  She just wanted to start playing with the train table.  She didn't notice or care about any other children there.  (Good thing, because a small boy had just emerged from the bathroom needing help with the fact that he was naked from the waist down.)

A little blurry, but the expression on her face is priceless.  

She barely looked at me when I said good-bye.

Later in the day, Grammy showed up to take her from the daycare room to the preschool room for class.  Actual class was only 30 minutes long and designed for the student and an adult helper.  Grammy insisted that Ainsley did very well.

Ainsley spent the rest of the day in the daycare room.  She told me later that they went to a restaurant to eat.  (Cafeteria or lies, dunno)  She also told me that she took a nap and played on the playground.

When I came to pick her up, she told me that she didn't want to go home.



So I guess she's ready.  :)