A Piece of Cake

Norah's first day of school was on Monday. She didn't really sleep well the night before-I think she was nervous. I didn't really sleep well the night before either. I was for sure nervous. I didn't think she would cry or get upset when I left, rather I was concerned that she would be really quiet and shy. I worried that she wouldn't tell her teacher when she needed to pee.

Here she is right before we left, with Bear and her new mouse lunch box.

One of the reasons we ended up going with this particular school is that it offers both a part time and full time program. She's only there in the morning 3 days a week right now but will obviously go full time when I go back to work. We can drop her off anytime between 7:00 and 9:00 (so nice when you have to get to work), and the kids can either play outside on the play structure/sand box or do art projects, play puzzles, etc. in the classroom. At 9:00 the "structured" part of the day starts (it is still a play based school), and they have art, letters, music, pretend play, cooking, etc. Then at noon they eat lunch and at 12:30 the half day kids go home and everyone else naps or rests until 3:00 (and then it's free play until 6:00).

We got there at about 8:45 and she and Bear played in the sand box for a bit. Teacher Rana got there at 9:00 (before 9:00 the kids are supervised by aides), and she immediately took Norah and introduced her to all of her classmates. I left at that point and I got a hug and a kiss and a 'bye, mom!' When I returned at 12:30 to pick her up she gave me a huge hug and kiss and told me she was happy to see me.

Rana said she was a "piece of cake" and it was though she had been there for months. Rana said she was delightful and talkative and participated in all of the day's activities. She played with the other kids and made friends. She went potty, ate her snack, and ate her entire lunch. She left Bear in her cubby until lunch time (I was shocked). No tears, not a moment of sadness and she apparently told Rana all about Louis and Ruby.

I asked her if she would tell me what she did at school and she kept telling me, "maybe later." It probably took the rest of the afternoon, but she eventually told me that she: sat at the top of a slide and rolled a ball to a boy at the bottom of the slide, rode a tricycle, sat in a circle at story time, made a fish in art, sang a song about a shark and a whale, ate a banana for snack, and held hands with a girl named Lily. She also told me that a girl named Sophie cried the whole time and an unknown named boy peed his pants. This seemed pretty accurate, as there was a crying girl and a boy in his underwear in the classroom when I picked her up.

Here's her fish:

I thought for sure she would nap after such a hectic morning. No dice. I think she was too wound up.

No school on Tuesday so instead we invited Ruby (and Baby Lucas) over to run through the sprinklers.

Norah was so happy to see her. She was dog tired after lunch and actually agreed to take a nap. She was grumpy and punchy and BURST into tears and cried hysterically, to the point where I couldn't even understand what she was saying. Finally I got out of her that she doesn't want to go back to school and wants to go to Ruby's house instead. Broke my heart, but I am sure she will be happy and excited again tomorrow.