School Days

For the past couple of months, David and I have been going back and forth with deciding whether or not to put Darian in nursery (pre-school) a couple mornings a week.  We knew it would be good for her, so of course David wasn't the one having reservations.  He misses the kids while he is at work no matter what they do during the day.  But leaving BOTH my babies behind while I sit at home by myself???  I really struggled with the decision.  David left it up to me, and finally I decided to just go for it!  I knew that seeing other children her age besides Maxwell (without me around) and receiving instructions from other adults besides Mommy and Daddy would be good for her.  I thought that being in that environment would help her language development, social skills, independence, etc.  


So today, Darian had her first day of preschool!!  She is with Maxwell at a Montessori Nursery here in Oxford.  We really like this school , and for the last six months Maxwell has really thrived there.  Originally we thought we would send her to the other Montessori that the principal runs.  We wanted them each to have their special place, to make their own friends, and to have a few hours a week where they didn't have to share everything.  But the other nursery had children from 1-5 years old, and part of the reason to send her a couple mornings a week would to be around other kids and learn by example.  I decided that spending those hours with all those babies may distract from that.  And of course, it is a lot easier on us to have them dropped off and picked up at the same place!!!


Darian had a great first day!  She was so excited to go this morning she barely ate any breakfast.  She wanted to put her new school shoes and backpack on right away!  Maxwell was really excited to have her go, too.

When we got to school they held hands down the sidewalk and walked in together.  Once inside she knew exactly what to do, having watched Maxwell get dropped off so many times.  She took off her coat and put her indoor shoes on like a big girl.  Then she was ready to go upstairs.  Maxwell was so excited to show her everything, even though she sees it everyday, that he hadn't put his shoes on yet.  She was standing on the stairs saying, "Come on, Maxwell!!" 

It was awesome.  Upstairs he got her set up with a puzzle and the sat side by side to play.  Seeing she was fine David and I said our goodbyes.  They both waved and blew kisses as we left, and Mommy held it together until the door closed behind me until the tears came.  It was hard to leave him the first day, but I had her to go home and play and cuddle with.  Today was hard to leave my baby girl behind.  

But then I went grocery shopping BY MYSELF, which I have done maybe 5 times in the last four years!!!  :o)  I washed and vacuumed the car and then had coffee with my friend Debbie.  When I picked them up, they were sitting nicely side by side in the kitchen singing songs with their teacher, Rose.  They both got up when they saw me and ran over for hugs.  Darian had a huge smile on her face and said, "Mommy I go to school!"  What an awesome experience for her!!

The teachers said that she did GREAT for her first day and that they were surprised at how happy and quickly she just jumped right in to do everything.  Rose was pleasantly surprised that Darian already holds her pencil correctly and seemed interested in writing.  :o)  We do a lot of that around here.   About halfway through the morning, when they were outside to play she got a bit upset and cried for me, but Maxwell came to comfort her and they were able to distract her and then she was fine.  We are so proud of our big girl!!!  She had the orange plate at dinner tonight to commemorate this special day!!!


(To see a few more cute pictures, go here)