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Sara started preschool today!  Wait.  I didn’t say that loud enough.

SARA STARTED PRESCHOOL TODAY!!!

AND I WANT TO SAY IT LIKE THIS!!!

not like this

After a week of not sleeping in anticipation, a Mommy who ironed everything in the house just in case she needed to wear a tablecloth to school (where DOES she get all of this anxiety?)…we got up at 6:30 am in order to make it to Sara’s first day of PRESCHOOL!

Sara decided to wear her favorite shirt and skirt and NEW SHOES, as opposed to both new clothes and new shoes.  I agreed…too much.  She was cool when the neighbor girls stopped at the minivan to wish her luck.  She was cool when Daddy called on the cell phone to wish her luck.  But when Mommy agreed to let her listen to “Reduce Reuse Recycle” without putting up an argument…that girl is no dummy.  She knew something BIG was in the air.

All the way to school Sara kept asking, “You’re going to let me stay ALL by myself, right?”  Right.  Then we turned onto the school’s road.  “You’re going to stay for a few minutes, right?”  Right.  Then we pulled into a parking space. “You’re going to stay, right?”  For a few minutes.  Right.

She did very well.  She froze up at her beautiful, tall cubby with the butterfly taped by her name.  But she regrouped, told me…and this is the eery part because it’s an exact quote that I gave my parents exactly 33 years ago, “You sit right there while I go play.”  So I sat.  For a few minutes.  When it came time to go, she had a mini-breakdown and her very kind and lovely teacher picked her up and took her to get a book.  The teacher gave me a look like, “Is she going to be alright?”  I told her reassuringly, “Don’t worry.  The second I walk out the door, she’ll be fine.  She’s a bit of a Mommy’s girl.  And that’s OK.  She’s OK.”

Then the Teacher’s Assistant, also just a warm and wonderful woman, noticed I wasn’t crying.  I had to smile.  “Sara cried me out a long, long time ago.  We’ve been doing this act for 3 years at daycare.  She’s OK.”

A friend of mine exited the room minutes later to report Sara was gleefully stickering and stamping and talking away.  Showing the teacher her work, telling her new friend where the cubbies are located.  THAT’S MY SARA!  WAY TO HANG IN THERE GIRL!  Check out her strength!  Now I’m tearing up.  Just thinking of what that must have took for her to muster the courage.  My brave little Piglet.

Kelly and I had a wonderful coffee date with Ana Paula and Oliver.  Kelly kept giving me this “check” expression, like, “Where is Ah-Ah-Ah?  Something SERIOUS is missing here.”  She and Oliver shared some toys and then we headed over to Trader Joe’s where I found a mountain of tasty and healthy snacks.  Good snacks have been my last frontier in the healthy food movement at our house.  I am the LAST person to ever think health food is worth my time…until I tried it.  And lost TEN solid pounds.  And kept it off for months.  But I digress.  More on why I won’t eat stressed out chickens later…

By 11:00 am, Kelly and I were joining the other Moms in the lobby, waiting in anticipation, most of us probably hyped up on caffeine.  OK, fine.  Maybe just me.  Out the tiny 3 years old came, looking almost stunned in excitement.  Sara spotted me right away, ran straight to me and screeched, “MOMMY!  I’M AN ARTIST!”  So Art Appreciation was a hit.  “What else did you do today?”  “Cat is GATO!”  Apparently Spanish Appreciation went well too.  There stood my little Duck, with her punch colored mustache and smile as wide as the Gulf of Mexico.  So proud to be wearing her backpack like all of the other kids.  So proud.  So grown up.  So brave to have conquered this day without being taken prisoner by tears she can’t always control.  Surrounded by kids just like her.  A point worth mentioning by a Mommy who understands how important that can be to a little girl in pigtails.

I won’t go into the pain of naps.  Our schedules are OFF.  WAY OFF.  Working this whole commuting thing into our schedule is going to take some time.  Sara awoke to more discussion about how GREAT Preschool is, and how she’d like to go back.  She spent the remainder of the day flitting around like a firefly, barely able to keep her balance with all the dancing.

Day 1 isn’t always an indicator of how things will go, but for tonight, pour some wine.  Enjoy this moment with me.  Soak it in.  Sara started preschool and it was good.  Very, very good.