Makela's First Day of Preschool

Today was Makela's first day at the La Jolla YMCA Preschool. Hard to believe she's already three and a half, but here we are.

I was pretty sure that Makela would have a good day and would adjust well to being away from home for a full day. Sure enough, from the moment we walked into school (with Makela insistently bearing her gigantic rest mat on her own) at 9:10 am, she was in her element.

After arriving and putting her lunchbox and tote on the wall hooks near the front door, Makela bounced into the school room and greeted her teachers, Miss E.J. and Miss Jenna. They told her about her journal, labeled with her name on one of the tables and asked her if she could find it. To which Makela replied, "My letters are M-A-K-E-L-A!" -- and then she found her journal right away and started coloring in it enthusiastically. Mommy and Daddy were left behind, as she was now completely absorbed. We managed to distract her enough to say "goodbye" to us, and we made our exit. I didn't cry, but I couldn't resist taking one last picture as I left the door to her classroom, leaving my baby girl for her first day of preschool.

The day passed quickly enough for me, and I got SOOOO much done! I did some laundry, checked my e-mail, deep-cleaned the master bathroom, and organized and put away a few things that hadn't managed to find a proper storage home yet. Oh, and I got in a workout at the Y, too!

Even though I could have picked up Makela as late as 4:00, I went over a few minutes early, eager to see how she did through the day. I was particularly interested to hear how she handled nap time, having to stay quiet and with other children sleeping around her.

The children play on the preschool playground at the end of their day, and I found Makela hard at work in the sandbox and was able to sneak in and snap a few more photos before she noticed that I had arrived. When she did see me, her first words were, "But I want to stay and play longer." Not "hello." Not "Hi Mommy!" Just a declaration that showed her complete lack of interest in seeing me again.

I told her we could stay another five minutes, so I took the opportunity to talk with Miss Jenna about how Makela's first day went. And from the report I got, Makela was a star student! Miss Jenna said that she did great, even at nap time. Of course she didn't sleep, but she was quiet and only asked about when she could be done once or twice. Jenna said to me, with a big smile, "Makela is a great kid. She has quite the personality." Then she added, "She's not afraid to tell you what's what."

Eventually, I managed to pull Makela away from the playground, although in the end, she was really quite tired and came to the car resigned to her homeward-bound fate. And for the rest of the evening and all the next day, all we heard were variations on a request to return to preschool asap. What follows are snippets of our conversations:

Makela: "When do I go back to preschool?"
Mommy: "On Thursday. The day after tomorrow."
Makela: "When is that? The day after this day?"

Makela: "Can I go back to preschool tomorrow?"
Mommy: "No, honey. Not until Thursday."
Makela: "But why?"
Mommy: "Because we only signed you up for Tuesdays and Thursdays each week."
Makela: "Why?"
Mommy: "Because you are just starting preschool. We'll give this a try and we'll talk about it."

Makela: "Why can't I go to preschool EVERY day?"
Mommy: "Because you don't need to go every day."

And Mommy really doesn't want you to be away at school every day. Not just yet.