Today was Annie's first ever day of school. She started 2 year old preschool at Dawson. Honestly, it has been an agonizing decision about whether I wanted her to go to preschool or stay home with me for another year. I do not have any reasons that she needs to be in school, and I don't have a strong desire for her to be in school. We have the best time together and we have been each other's constant companion for 2 years! She is easy to be with and loves to do just about anything that I am doing! I know that she is always learning as we do so many different things throughout our day. And she is very well socialized since we have lots of little friends, she goes to the church nursery, and she interacts with people all the time doing regular activities such as the grocery store. And finally, who better to learn from than your parent's who care the most about you and who invest the most time and attention in you than anyone else?
I love this phase of life where it is totally acceptable for my time and focus and priority to be my family. I love being at home and very rarely ever need or want to be doing anything else. Our culture these days demands a lot and creeps in easily with so much busyness, social media and interaction, and pressure to be working / volunteering outside of the home. I want to keep the outside pressure at bay as much as possible while we have a young family. I know there will be even more outside influence and interaction and pressure as our family gets older, so I want to soak up our simple family time as much as possible right now. Plus, it suits my personality so well to be at home and not to be over committed.
So, with all of that being said, I do want to do what is best for Annie. She got into several different preschools over the summer. I visited them all and only strongly liked one - Dawson. I just felt comfortable there from the very beginning and I also really liked the director too. She was very warm and friendly and available. Dawson has a very small program which I love. There are a total of 5 classes between the ages of 18 months and 4K. I also love the location and its proximity to Homewood and many of the places that I would want to run errands, eat lunch, grocery shop, etc. Dawson also has a gym which will be great if I ever get my boot off and can workout again. And finally, most of the children in our playgroup go to Dawson so there are several familiar faces for Annie and me. So, it was a relatively easy decision to send Annie to Dawson if anywhere.
Dawson's 2 year old program is 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Annie was originally signed up for both, but I just did not feel comfortable with her going 2 days a week. I felt like our time together was going to be drastically less and that our schedule (or lack thereof ) that we love so much was suddenly going to be effected drastically too. Plus, when we go to church that was practically a third morning in "school." Ugh! I just couldn't stomach the thought of her being away from me for so much time without a good reason. And, I dreaded the thought of having to be on a school schedule from now until the time she graduates college. It is hard and exhausting to have to get to bed at a certain time and then up in the mornings, fed, dressed, packed up, and out the door. It works for some, but it's just not for us and our personalities and lifestyle at this point. So, the director was wonderful and gracious and kind and understanding about my hesitation further confirming that Dawson was the right choice for us. She agreed that Annie could only do 1 day a week at school!! Another family is apparently doing the same thing. And, it is half price. I am so thankful that Kathy understood where I was coming from and was able to offer us 1 day a week since it is such a small program! It really made my decision to start school so much easier. We are on a trial basis each month to see if we stick to 1 day a week or withdraw completely to wait until next year. I am thankful for the flexibility to make the best decision for us!
Last week, Brad and I went to a parent orientation to learn about the school and meet Annie's teachers. Then later in the week, we took Annie to "meet the teacher" on the Thursday before school started. We made a fun morning out of it by starting out with breakfast at Jack's. Then, we went to school, met her teachers, played in the classroom with a few of the other children, and got her school bag and a treat from her teachers.
Finding her name on the wall!
Mrs. Lori and Mrs. Pamela with Annie!
Playgroup friends and now classmates
Annie, Grayson, and Trey
Annie with a bit of an overwhelmed look. You can see the Noah's ark rug where they will sit and have story time. They are supposed to find an animal in the circles and sit on it!
It was a good day and went well. But, it left me feeling sad and with a pit in my stomach for the rest of the day. I felt like I was giving my time away with Annie for her to be with strangers. I wanted to scream "She's mine and you can't have her!" This is the point when I started strongly considering withdrawing and what eventually led us to only going 1 day a week. I am so thankful for my decision and I know that for now we would not be happy going 2 days a week.
So, finally the first day was here today. I felt relieved knowing that we were only going 1 day a week and still on a month-to-month trial run so I was able to enjoy today. I got up early and got myself ready. Then, I packed Annie's lunch and had to wake her up at 8:00. She is a late sleeper and I knew that it was / is going to be hard for us to get to school by 9:00am. She ate a little but was still too sleepy to really want to eat. Then, we got dressed in her outfit that was already laid out and took some pictures! She was still sleepy and we were hurrying so we did not get a lot of smiles, but I think that they are adorable!
Caught her blinking!
She looked beautiful and so big in her dress and bow! Melt my heart.
Daddy and Mommy wanted pictures with our big school girl!
And then, we were off. Brad and I took her together and walked her in which we (I) will do every day. I am so glad for this part. I feel like I will get to interact with her teachers more as well as the other children and parents.
In front of the school doors about to go in. She was watching a few of the other children walk in.
In front of her classroom door.
The theme for their classroom is "Fishers of Men" so you can see the fish with their names on them. The corresponding verse for their classroom is Matthew 4:19
"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Annie walking in and being greeted by one of her teachers, Mrs. Lori.
I love the 3 big windows in her room - it feels more like home with all the light and view outside!
And finally, I peeked in the window from the outside just before leaving.
They were happy and already playing. I was so thankful.
Annie never cried. She gave me a hug and walked right in and started playing. Brad and I headed home and couldn't wait to hear how she did. I was able to run several errands and check some things off my to-do list. It will be nice for me to have one morning to get a lot done if Annie ends up liking school.
Just before 1:00, I picked Annie up and was glad to hear that she had a good day! All of the kids were happy and there were basically no tears according to the teachers. Annie was quiet and tired as I expected. She seemed a little different to me and I was sad that she had done something so big and monumental without me there. I asked her a lot of questions and got a few details. She said she liked school but when I asked if she wanted to go again she said "no." She wanted to "stay home with Mommy / Daddy and play." She has said this consistently when talking about school and I did not teach her this idea. She knows exactly what she wants! She told me that she had "white cookies" for snack. She told me that she read and clapped. She said that she played with the baby, played outside, and did not read a Bible story. And, just before nap time Annie looked at her blankets and said "ummm..." as if trying to decide which blanket to use. She has never said this and always says "hmmm" like I do when deciding on a book or something. So I asked her who taught her that and she told me that her "new teachers" are the ones who taught her to say "ummm!" She was being very silly and we both laughed!
I emailed both her teachers and the other play group moms to check on the day and the details that I heard. Another little girl told her Mommy about cookies and one of the boys said that he played outside and painted.
The teachers emailed the parents and said this:
"We had the BEST first day of school. All of your children were happy, playful and full of joy! We played with play-doh, talked about Jesus growing, colored a picture and did some painting. They did a good job sitting in a circle for story time and walked in a sometimes straight line :) They will become used to our daily schedule, so please ask them about what we do each day."
And then Mrs. Lori said this specifically about Annie.
I told her what I heard and she filled in the details.
"She did have lots of vanilla wafers for snack, so that is the "white cookie"! We played in the gym with a hula hoop and threw the ball with each other. We did clap after we sang songs, but I am not sure about the "ummmm". That might be the only false detail that you heard but I'm glad she had fun! She sat at the table for lunch and was very curious about what her friends had in their lunchbox. She played hard on the playground and laughed a lot when she was playing with the doll house. You are right that she was happy and did great."
So, all in all a good report. Now, that I am finishing up this post on Wednesday, the day after the first day, I can say that Annie talked about school today very positively! She brought it up on her own when she saw her lunch bag that I packed yesterday. She then gathered snacks from the pantry and packed up her lunch bag! Next, she sat on her school bus and told me that she was driving to school! I think that is a very good sign! Later tonight, she brought up school and her "new teachers" as she calls them and told us "yes" when asked if she wanted to go back. I am so glad that it was a good, fun, happy experience for her. I am also SO glad that we are not going back tomorrow. It feels too soon. Hopefully, we have made a good decision and the best one for our sweet girl!
