My baby starts preschool
It truly seems like Luke JUST came into our lives, but of course almost 4 years have passed since he physically came into our sight and lives with jet black wavy hair and huge hands and feet (and it has been almost 5 years since he was created and my pregnancy started - in July of 2008). Well now he is off to preschool! It may seem like he is starting at an odd time - February - but we weren't on the ball enough to get him started right after the New Year, and this past Fall he wasn't quite ready to separate from his mama. So February it is. He is going one morning a week (Fridays from 8:30-11:30am) to Praise and Play preschool at Faith Lutheran Church in Spicer. It is a perfect segue into preschool: just one morning a week; on Fridays when there are only 4 kids in the class; his good friend, Liam Macik, is one of those 4; and the teacher is Ms. Paula, perhaps the sweetest woman in the world next to Luke's Grandmas, Annie and Marcy.
We talked about him going all week and he kind of ignored it/us. Toward the end of the week he started to voice his concern and fear of going. He would say I will be scared. I'm scared, mom. Friday morning came and when I hustled him out of bed to get dressed and brush teeth he started to cry, and then harder and harder. Through the crying I managed to dress him and brush his teeth. Over his sobs he'd manage to say phrases like, This is NOT a good plan! This is not fair! Preschool is not my favorite thing! I'm scared. I kept on course and the entire family headed to preschool to drop him off. The entire way to the school he screamed and cried and screamed and cried. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and just before we arrived I started to cry (just when I knew I needed to be strong and keep it together).
I carried him in, screaming, and we were met by Ms. Paula - the most calm, nurturing woman ever. She told Luke she'd like to show him around and see what he thought of all the stuff, and she told Luke that he should bring me with him to check it all out. Luke was amazed at all the fun "stations" and incredible toys and so he briefly stopped crying. Ms. Paula told Luke they were going to read some cowboy books - unbeknownst to her this would be a HUGE hit with Luke, Mr. Cowboy/Bonanza himself. But I guess maybe all boys love cowboys as much. Ms. Paula showed Luke his name tag (so cool for him to see his name LUKE, just for him), and then reached down to take his soft little hand and lead him across the room to the board where he could slide his name tag in any slot he wanted, and she helped him put it right next to Liam's. Then it was time for me, Paul, and Ben to leave, and he started to scream again. Ms. Paula put her arms around him and held him, and assured me that this was normal and expected and she knew he would be fine and could call me if there were any concerns. I walked out in tears. Paul and Ben followed me, and then Paul had to run back in with Luke's backpack because we had forgotten to leave it with him. Paul came back out and said that Luke had already stopped crying and Ms. Paula was holding his hand, leading him around to different toys.
I drove straight to my friend, Gina's house (Liam's mom) where I could find some empathy and encouragement as well as take my mind off of the clock. I ended up having a great morning, spending quality time with little Ben as well as Gina and another friend, Steph. Before we knew it, it was time to head to school to pick up our boys. When I arrived the kids were out on the playground. Luke had on borrowed snowpants and mismatched mittens (I had forgotten both in the chaos of getting out the door). He didn't run to me in desperation, or appear mad at me for leaving him (I was warned of this reaction), but walked over calmly and waited while I talked to Ms. Paula. She informed me he did wonderfully and everything went very smoothly. Luke got in the car and immediately started yapping a mile a minute about school. First he told Ben that this was his school and this was his backpack and Ms. Paula was his teacher. He told Ben someday he could go to school too. He talked about the cowboy stories they read, the coloring he did on the biggest piece of paper he had ever seen, the Sweeties they had for snack (when he finally said they were oranges I realized he meant Cuties), the car mat he raced cars on, and the pulley system they created. He said his favorite part of school was the cowboy stories. He called his dad and told him everything over the phone. Then we went to the Dairy Queen to celebrate (with Gina and Liam and gang) and Luke was so fired up about school that he couldn't stop talking and rhyming his words and bouncing around the booth. He agreed that it wasn't scary.
And so far he wants to go back. We will see how he feels on Friday morning. I am so proud of him. I knew he was ready. He is bored at home all day and constantly says, What should we do now, Mom? What do you wanna do now, Mom? He is smart and asks a million questions - he loves to learn. So our days of school begin. Thank goodness this is just 3 hours a week. I am not ready for all day every day kindergarten!
Good job Lukey boy!
Love, Mom
We talked about him going all week and he kind of ignored it/us. Toward the end of the week he started to voice his concern and fear of going. He would say I will be scared. I'm scared, mom. Friday morning came and when I hustled him out of bed to get dressed and brush teeth he started to cry, and then harder and harder. Through the crying I managed to dress him and brush his teeth. Over his sobs he'd manage to say phrases like, This is NOT a good plan! This is not fair! Preschool is not my favorite thing! I'm scared. I kept on course and the entire family headed to preschool to drop him off. The entire way to the school he screamed and cried and screamed and cried. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and just before we arrived I started to cry (just when I knew I needed to be strong and keep it together).
I carried him in, screaming, and we were met by Ms. Paula - the most calm, nurturing woman ever. She told Luke she'd like to show him around and see what he thought of all the stuff, and she told Luke that he should bring me with him to check it all out. Luke was amazed at all the fun "stations" and incredible toys and so he briefly stopped crying. Ms. Paula told Luke they were going to read some cowboy books - unbeknownst to her this would be a HUGE hit with Luke, Mr. Cowboy/Bonanza himself. But I guess maybe all boys love cowboys as much. Ms. Paula showed Luke his name tag (so cool for him to see his name LUKE, just for him), and then reached down to take his soft little hand and lead him across the room to the board where he could slide his name tag in any slot he wanted, and she helped him put it right next to Liam's. Then it was time for me, Paul, and Ben to leave, and he started to scream again. Ms. Paula put her arms around him and held him, and assured me that this was normal and expected and she knew he would be fine and could call me if there were any concerns. I walked out in tears. Paul and Ben followed me, and then Paul had to run back in with Luke's backpack because we had forgotten to leave it with him. Paul came back out and said that Luke had already stopped crying and Ms. Paula was holding his hand, leading him around to different toys.
I drove straight to my friend, Gina's house (Liam's mom) where I could find some empathy and encouragement as well as take my mind off of the clock. I ended up having a great morning, spending quality time with little Ben as well as Gina and another friend, Steph. Before we knew it, it was time to head to school to pick up our boys. When I arrived the kids were out on the playground. Luke had on borrowed snowpants and mismatched mittens (I had forgotten both in the chaos of getting out the door). He didn't run to me in desperation, or appear mad at me for leaving him (I was warned of this reaction), but walked over calmly and waited while I talked to Ms. Paula. She informed me he did wonderfully and everything went very smoothly. Luke got in the car and immediately started yapping a mile a minute about school. First he told Ben that this was his school and this was his backpack and Ms. Paula was his teacher. He told Ben someday he could go to school too. He talked about the cowboy stories they read, the coloring he did on the biggest piece of paper he had ever seen, the Sweeties they had for snack (when he finally said they were oranges I realized he meant Cuties), the car mat he raced cars on, and the pulley system they created. He said his favorite part of school was the cowboy stories. He called his dad and told him everything over the phone. Then we went to the Dairy Queen to celebrate (with Gina and Liam and gang) and Luke was so fired up about school that he couldn't stop talking and rhyming his words and bouncing around the booth. He agreed that it wasn't scary.
And so far he wants to go back. We will see how he feels on Friday morning. I am so proud of him. I knew he was ready. He is bored at home all day and constantly says, What should we do now, Mom? What do you wanna do now, Mom? He is smart and asks a million questions - he loves to learn. So our days of school begin. Thank goodness this is just 3 hours a week. I am not ready for all day every day kindergarten!
Good job Lukey boy!
Love, Mom
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| Luke taking his coloring seriously. He puts a lot of thought into all his work. This was pre-preschool. |
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