Katie Katie Parsons is the creator of Mumbling Mommy and is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist. She works from her home office on the east coast of Florida. Most often she writes about life in a combined family of five children and what it's like being a full time work-from-home parent. Feel free to pitch guest post ideas or just drop her a line at katie@mumblingmommy.com.

 

My Cool Preschooler

Earlier this month I discussed being a back-to-school virgin. Here I am back with some updates.

 

Open House was on August 9th. I wasn’t sure what to think as I was unfamiliar with the building my daughter’s class was located in. (There was some confusion on my part about which school she’d be going to. The preschool follows district lines of course but I didn’t realize that the location that’s on the same street as me just a mile down the road is not in fact the elementary school district we live in. Instead, we go about 1 ¾ a mile – still not far at all! – to Lil’s school.) Once we saw the building and classroom we were much more at ease. It’s a huge open classroom. There was a wide range of stations to play at. Lily very quickly noticed a few popular toys her old daycare also had and played with them as we chatted with her new teacher.

It takes a very dedicated, amazing person to teach preschool. Her teacher is absolutely perfect for her job. She has a teacher’s assistant and there are nine kids total in the morning class that Lily attends. Her teacher is organized to my level of OCD so we get along just wonderfully. And best of all, Lily just loves her teacher. She connected to her right away and almost every day I pick her up, Lily has chosen the spot right by Mrs. R in circle time.

I’m still sort of in denial that an entire month has gone by already. I remember my school days; the school year seemed to drag on forever but not for Lily. In just this short month though, we already decided she will definitely be going to the 4-year-old preschool next year too. The program is great for her.  There was nothing wrong with her daycare at all. We loved it there. But this program has really taught our whole family a lot of new things.

 

1.   Lily is learning to adjust to her independence. She does not have her Nana at school with her anymore so she is learning to make new friends. She has learned to really use her words to explain what she needs. She’s always been great with vocabulary but can get very whiny as most kids do.

 

2.   I am adjusting to the new confidence of being out with three kids. I’ve only ever taken them out when I knew I was meeting someone else who’d be helping me before this. Now, twice a week I have to pack up all three kids, be on time, drop Lil off, come back home, unload the twins, pack the twins back up, be on time, pick Lil up, come back home, unload three kids. It sounds like a lot of work. Two months ago I wasn’t even sure I could do it. But I do. And it doesn’t stress me out. I actually enjoy it.

3.   One of my biggest worries was having Lil home with me more. We fight a lot. She struggles with respecting me and listening to me. I struggle with losing my patience and temper. We’ve had a lot of nightmare-ish days. So when we decided to go the route of preschool I had to really get mentally prepared for it. Much to my surprise, the 3 hours she is at school is the perfect break during the day for me to catch up on my work, snag a long shower while the twins nap, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, watch TV, etc. Sure we still have some three year old meltdowns and tantrums but not once have I regretted pulling her out of full day daycare.

 

So here we are, entering our second month of preschool. Lily is learning. Mom is learning. And in the process, we are growing.

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Category: Education

Tags: Back to school