Little One Out in the Big World!

Well after much dread and worry (on my part) Little One started preschool last week. People tell me that the dread was because she is my youngest, my baby and that I'm not ready to let her go. I am sure they are right, I was sure by now we would have another little chicken around the house and since that has not been in the cards for us this is my baby, and the thought of her out there without her mama makes me sad. This is a little girl who when her daddy is tickling her and teasing her will shout out "I am mama's baby, don't do that to mama's baby!" I fondly refer to her as the "little barnacle" since she lives to be attached to me, her arms wrapped tightly around me her legs gripping me.

We have talked about school and she seemed fine with it, the week before we headed over the open house to meet her teachers and see her classroom. I'm pretty sure that as we walked into the school I felt my head begin to spin and a near paralysis set in. How could I send her to school....and why three days? Why would I pick three days when I could have chosen two? And these kids, these kids all seem HUGE and she is so small. WHAT AM I DOING!!!!!!!! Upon leaving the open house I began to frantically call my friends that I trust the most, looking for some backup that I had made the wrong decision. To their credit they all were very supportive of the fact that I was freaking out and also supportive of making a move to two day if I needed to.

Then Little One came down with a rotten cold and cough that kept her out of her first day of school last Monday. After being cooped up together day after day her screeching at me like some rabid howler monkey to get her juice or food, or to stop trying to giver her medicine and take her temperature the next day of school (Wednesday) rolled around and she was on the mend. That morning as we got her ready I found myself feeling slightly happy at the prospect that she would be elsewhere for three hours! We both could use a break from one another...right? She looked so cute in her first day of school outfit, her backpack strapped to her back. She stood in the yard for her picture a GIANT grin on her face. Then once we were at school she came out of the car with the same permagrin. We walked into class and I turned around and she was gone, over in the corner at the kitchen area busily cooking up some grub a phone propped on one shoulder as she spoke, imitating me chatting with my friends.

Stopping to tell her goodbye and that I would see her after singing she smiled and said goodbye and went back to her imaginary phone conversation....and that was it. I walked to my car with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face! It hadn't been so hard, it had been pretty easy!! Now that's not to say that this week I won't have a freak out day, but that first day was a beautiful thing for all parties involved. Afterwards we picked up G from Kindergarten and had a special lunch at Nana's and Gramps to celebrate the big day and when she looked at me and said "I want to go back to school tomorrow!" I knew we'd both made the right decision :)