First Day of Preschool

I interrupt blogging about our trip to Newfoundland

to post about Piper's very first day of preschool.

She was pretty darn excited.

And for all of her excitement,

her mommy matched her in worries.

Piper is 3.5 years old and has only ever been out of my sight

a handful of times.

That's what happens when you move around a lot

and are not fortunate enough to have family close by.

With Piper so used to being with me,

I was terrified that she would get upset when I dropped her off at her preschool.

There are days when we attend playdates or playgroup

where she will not get out of my arms,

so I was really worried that she would be shy and scared on her first day.

Silly me.

I had nothing to worry about.

She did great!!!

On the way there,

she asked me if there would be a lot of people there.

I said, "yes, but mostly kids and a few teachers".

Then she asked me if there would be enough room for everyone. 

Me: Of course!

I then told her that if she felt sad, frustrated or even happy,

that she could tell her teacher.

She seemed pleased with this.

We arrived at her school and she announced,

"this looks just like playgroup".

Me: That's because this is the same place that we have playgroup,

but this time it's only for kids and teachers, 

not for mommies and babies.

She was okay with this.

We found her name above her coat hook,

hung up her backpack

and changed into her indoor shoes. 

(Elliotte instantly sat down on her little bum and tried to take her shoes off too.

She was determined to stay and play with her big sister!)

By this time Piper's little friend, Nola, arrived 

and immediately ran to Piper saying, "Piper! My best friend."

Soooo cute.

A few minutes later, Claira arrived and embraced Piper 

in the smallest, yet cutest bear hug ever.

Yea. 

Piper was going to be just fine here!

When it was time for me to leave,

Piper was holding on to my hand quite tightly all of a sudden,

so I started to worry again.

I lead her into her classroom where I noticed Nola starting an art project...

with PAINT.

Piper LOVES paint.

As soon as I pointed out what Nola was doing,

Piper threw her arms around my neck,

gave me a huge kiss,

did the same to her sister

(without me asking)

and then ran for the art tables. 

That was it. 

She never looked back. 

What a trooper. 

My big little girl is really growing up.

I'm not going to lie,

I was quite emotional as I walked out of the school and to our van.

I probably would have cried...

but Elliotte decided to do that for me.

She was NOT impressed with not being allowed to stay and play,

so she made that VERY clear.

She screamed.

She arched her back and refused to get into her carseat.

She was NOT a happy camper.

Two more years until your turn, Little One.

Two more years.

xo

xo

Our big Preschooler!

And her mini-me.

All ready to go.
Goodness, I can't stop looking at this photo.
She looks so grown up to me here!

A very sad little Elliotte.
She wanted to stay at Preschool and play too.

Three best buds all smiles after a great first day at preschool.

FYI:

I arrived at the scheduled time to pick up Piper to bring her home. When I arrive, one of her teachers is cleaning up from snack and I ask her how it went. I was told that Piper did great and that she was currently sitting in the back room all by herself. ??? Of course I ask why she's back there alone. Her teacher laughs and says that she's STILL eating. Right! That makes sense. Piper is the slowest eater that I've ever known. It takes her FOREVER to eat every meal. As a result, she was the last one in the snack room on her first day of preschool. Her teacher laughed and said that she must have been hungry because she told her that her mommy only gave her beans for lunch. Hahahah. True. I gave her a bowl of beans and a slice of bread with butter for lunch, thinking that the beans would help keep her feeling full until she came home. Problems was that she was eating two beans at a time, so was only able to finish half of the bowl before it was time to get ready for school. Silly little girl. Otherwise, I was told that she did wonderful for the rest of the afternoon. She was a little shy and wanted the art teacher to go with her to explore the other learning rooms. That teacher explained that her job was to stay in the art room to help kids there, but that there was another teacher in the other two rooms that would be happy to show her things in their rooms. Piper was reluctant at first, but did venture into the two other rooms and wasn't long coming out of her shell. Hooray! On our way home, she told me all about her afternoon and says that she's excited to go back again on Monday. Way to go, Piper Cee!! You really are our big girl now!