Liliana's First Day of School

Okay, let me preface this post by saying, before I had children...I seriously judged any stay-at-home mom who sent her kids to daycare/preschool.  Ummm....aren't you staying home because you want to spend time with your children?  Why would you pay someone to watch them when you can do it yourself?

And then I had Liliana.

I've learned many things from parenting this child...one of which is never say never.  "I'll never use the television as a babysitter."  HA!  "I'd never allow my kids to eat sugary snacks before dinner."  Heck yeah I will, if it means they're quiet for long enough for me to cook.  "I'd never give into a tantrum just because we're in a public place."  Yeah...right. 

So on that note, Liliana had her first day of preschool today!  We decided she needed to go to preschool two days a week for a few hours, to help her work on her social and emotional growth.  There's only so much mommy can do with her from home and playdates.  She really needs a structured group setting, away from mom, where they tell her where to play and what to do and she HAS to follow directions and listen.  Plus, Micah has been getting the short end of the stick lately, since Liliana requires so much attention...so now he has special Mommy time!  And let's face it, Mommy needs a break!  So win/win/win!

She did not want to go and was crying about it this morning when we woke up.  But the more we talked about it, the more she seemed to accept it and be okay with it.  And she actually had a GREAT time!

Here she is all ready for her first day!

She has her very own cubby to hang her coat/backpack in.

The teachers said she did great at following directions and was even "helping" correct the other kids when they weren't following directions.  I bet she was.  :-P  When I did daycare, she would knock the other toddlers over the the ground and yell "IT'S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR DIAPER!!!!"  She has...well, let's call it "leadership qualities."  One of the many skills I'm hoping preschool will help her refine.

When we went to pick her up, she was busy playing and in a great mood.  She told us all about her day.  She got to help carve a pumpkin and said that the pumpkin guts were slimy.  She had cold hands on the playground, so the teacher shared some gloves with her.  She played with other kids at the toy kitchen and she learned a new song.  When we walked in to pick her up, she was playing at the science table.  She seemed very eager to go back next week! 

 

And Micah and I had a great time having alone time!  Sometimes, I get so busy with keeping the kids out of trouble and getting housework done, that I don't really get to enjoy them and the little things that make them special.  It was good catching up with my son and really taking in all of the unique ways in which he's my Micah.

All in all, a pretty successful day!