First Day of Preschool!

We've had an exciting few days over here. Gia had preschool orientation and Tuesday was her first day in the 3 year old class!  

    As I mentioned before, Gia does really well in new situations as long as she knows what to expect. I wasn't worried about her going to school at all for a variety of reasons.  First of all, she's going to the same school and we had such a great experience there last year.  And, 4 of her classmates from last year are in her class again this year, so it's not like she's going into a whole new group of kids. And most importantly, one of her teachers this year was her teacher last year! Talk about a really nice safety net for her school experience this year!   Monday we went to orientation. I reminded Gia that we'd be going to a new room at the same school and that Jean, her teacher from last year, would be there with a new teacher, Jeannie. I was going to stay with her the first day and the second day I was going to drop her off and then come back later to get her. She was a very excited, but also a little unsure. As we pulled up to orientation she asked "Are you going to stay with me?"    I was a little surprised at her apprehension but I reassured her I wasn't leaving. (In retrospect, I think this year was a tinge harder for her because she's older and she fully understands that I'm leaving her. When she first started school I don't think she fully grasped the concept of me leaving her until I'd already left and she'd had a great time, thus making it no big deal.)  We had a great time checking out her new classroom and meeting her teachers. They did a modified version of the school day and Gia happily sat on the rug for circle time, sang songs, listened to her teachers and ate her snack.    Monday night Gia picked out her own outfit & went to bed early in preparation for the real FIRST DAY!  

  Tuesday morning was busy. We aren't used to getting up and out so fast in the morning. Although Gia is a total morning person, she likes to lounge around and eat some fruit, and then have breakfast and play and watch some tv before she gets dressed. Well, that couldn't happen Tuesday and Gia wasn't so sure of things. She said she didn't want breakfast and she wasn't going to go to school. She wasn't being difficult about it--this wasn't a 3 year old exerting her independence and shouting "I'm not going!" It was more of a quiet, sad, oh how unfortunate that I just can't go to school today Mommy kind of thing.  

     After a quick pep talk (about all the fun she'd have and how much her friends would miss her), she ate her waffle and was excited about school again.

   

  She was all smiles and even let me take approximately 7 million pictures of her. And when it came time to drop her off and leave, she kissed us goodbye and ran off to play. 

When we went back to pick her up, she was happy as a clam. She was so excited to see us and tell us about her day. She made a color wheel, painted, had a snack and got a sticker. A sticker is like gold to her.    And, to end a perfect morning, after school we baked chocolate chip cookies together, because it's a First Day of School Tradition.