Kayla's first day of preschool

Today was Kayla's first day of preschool.  She had an absolutely fantabulous day.  Since Kayla's Montessori school is closer to my work, our drop-off and pick-up routines have changed a bit.  Before, George used to drop off both girls at the family home day care in the mornings and I would pick them up in the afternoons after work.  Now, George will drop off and pick up Jocelyn (who is still in day care) and I will drop off and pick up Kayla.

We've been hyping up the idea of preschool for the past few weeks.  I bought two picture books to help her with the transition, The Kissing Hand and Llama Llama Misses Mama.  Both books are great for introducing kids to school.  Kayla really took to the Kissing Hand (probably because it came with a set of kissing hand heart stickers) and we've been reading it at bedtime every night for the past two weeks.  She even has most of it memorized already!  She really wanted the stickers, but I kept reminding her that the stickers for when she went to preschool and that she would get one today, on her first day.  (She told me that she kept it stuck in her palm until her teacher asked her to take it off. I then asked her if Mommy's kiss was still stuck, and she answered, "Um, just for a little bit."  Obviously it didn't bother her.)

This morning, George and Jocelyn walked out the front door just a few minutes before Kayla and I did.  Jocelyn sat on the front step, waiting for Kayla until George told her to come to the car.  By the time Kayla and I walked out, George was getting ready to drive away.  Kayla shouted, "Bye Daddy, bye Jocelyn, I love you!"  George rolled down Jocelyn's window and all I could see was a little hand poking out, waving bye-bye.  If you've ever seen Jocelyn wave, it's a total princess/beauty pageant wave.  Her little wave just about melted my heart.  George said that Jocelyn was really confused that Kayla wasn't in the car with her, and cried all the way from our house to the end of our street.  (We are the sixth house down, so it wasn't very long.)  He dropped her off at day care and she was totally fine and happy.

This morning, Kayla was really excited about finally seeing her friend Lida.  Lida and Kayla were day care buddies until Lida enrolled in Montessori back in June.  In July, we stopped by the preschool to show Kayla around. The kids were playing outside and Kayla and Lida immediately gravitated toward each other, and played together as if they hadn't missed a beat.  Lida doesn't arrive at preschool as early as Kayla does, so I had to reassure Kayla that Lida would be there later.

When we arrived at the school, Kayla's class was lining up in the morning play room to go across the hall into their classroom.  There were about five or six kids, and Kayla's teacher, Ms. Rita, asked Kayla if she wanted to get in line.  Kayla nodded and stood in line for about 5 seconds, until Ms. Rita started walking and cut in the front of the line so she could walk next to Ms. Rita.  Ms. Rita held Kayla's hand as they entered their classroom and walked in a circle while singing a song.  All the kids, except Kayla, sat down with their legs crossed when the song ended.  Ms. Rita gently asked her if she could sit with her legs crossed, and then Ms. Rita went to sit on a chair on the opposite side of the circle.  Kayla immediately got up to sit next to Ms. Rita.  At this point, I left (most likely more for my sake than Kayla's).  I have a feeling that Ms. Rita had a little shadow following her all day long.

At around 2:30 pm I couldn't resist calling the preschool to ask how Kayla was doing.  The report that I got was that Kayla was napping, and that she had eaten her lunch and didn't cry.  All three of those things were good signs that Kayla was doing just fine.

I pulled into the preschool parking lot just after 5 pm, and the kids were playing outside.  Kayla and Lida were holding hands, running around together.  When Kayla saw me, they both ran up to the fence to see me.  Kayla said, "See you tomorrow, Lida" and they gave each other hugs and kisses goodbye.  So sweet!  According to the director of the preschool, Kayla got the award for best first day among all the new students.  The director said that when I dropped Kayla off, it looked too easy, but her day went really smoothly.  Way to make Mommy and Daddy proud!

On the way home, we called Daddy over the speaker phone.  Kayla wanted to pick up Jocelyn from day care and was getting very upset that Daddy was picking up Jocelyn instead.  They got home first, and Jocelyn was very confused that Kayla wasn't there.  She kept looking for her jie jie and wandered around the main level of the house.  I don't know if any one else can understand her, but when Jocelyn says deh-deh she is really saying jie jie (which means big sister in Mandarin).

At last, Kayla and I made it home. Jocelyn was SUPER excited, as well as Kayla. As Kayla ran up the front steps you can hear her saying, "There you are, sweetie!"

After dinner, George brought out a special treat to celebrate Kayla's first day of preschool... Chinese pastries from Maria's Bakery. Yum yum!! What a great way to end a great day!

Let's hope the rest of the week goes just as smoothly!