First day of school

I can't believe I'm typing those words already, "first day of school." Granted it is still "pre-school" but it is school all the same.

We enrolled Cheyanne in preschool starting this month at a local church school that came recommended to us. We've been on the waitlist all year but a spot opened up and we jumped on it.

I was (still am) hesitant about Cheyanne being away from me under the supervision of someone else, but I'm so glad that we decided to go for it. I honestly had no idea how she would react to being away from my for 3 hours a day two days a week. I tried to prepare myself for the worst, her screaming and crying, not wanting me to leave. I talked school up all week before her first day. "School is so great!" "Wouldn't it be fun to make a lot of new friends at school?" "Big girls love going to school." I thought I was ready for whatever hardship came from dropping off my baby that first day.

Here we are in the car on our way to school. She was finishing eating her breakfast because of course I was running late.

Here she is outside of her school, ready to go in but not having a clue what we were doing there.

Within 30 seconds of walking into her classroom and washing her hands (which they always do immediately and I love!)… she took off. "Bye Mom!" Seriously, not even a glance up to check and make sure I was still around. Nope. She loved it. 

I stayed within two miles of the school the entire 3 hours just in case I got the phone call that she missed me too much and wanted her Momma. My phone never rang. I checked it several times to make sure I had signal because surely my little girl, my shadow for the last 2 1/2 years missed me. I don't think I've ever spent a full 2 hours in Target in my life until that day. I forgot what it was like to shop without a 2 year old with me. Just me and the baby boy, we strolled and looked at practically everything in the store. We "I" grabbed a Starbucks. I sat and actually enjoyed it. I nursed the babe while I sipped my grande macchiato no foam. 

11:20pm, I decided to head back to school early to wait in line so Cheyanne wouldn't be waiting for me as the other kids were picked up. I was the first one from her class there waiting in the carpool line. At noon on the dot, her teacher brought her out and I have never been so happy to see that smiling face. She was so happy. Happy to see me and happy about life. She got in the car and told me all about her first day, music class where she got to play the piano and egg shakers, baby dolls which are apparently her favorite thing in the classroom, and the books that they read. She went on and on about how much fun she had. What a relief. 

In related news since we'll be continuing her schooling, she collects Box Tops now for her school. Apparently the school gets 10 cents for each turned in, but more importantly, for every 10 she returns, Cheyanne gets to pick a prize from the treasure chest. So, keep your eyes out for Box Tops please. If you find some, send them her way. She's already earned enough for one trip to the treasure chest via my adapted grocery shopping trip. I never noticed how many foods have these things on them, but you know I'll keep an eye out for them now. Anything to make my girl happy.