I carried her to the classroom door and she let me put her down while we found her cubby for her lunch and the hook for her backpack. I successfully pinned on her name tag and we checked in together with no problems. Things seemed to be going smoothly as I suggested we walk in and check out the items in the bin with all the other kids. She let me lead her there by the hand. And then I told her I'd be back...
The tears didn't start until round three of me trying to leave and her clinging to me for dear life...
and once she started crying I was about to cry and I didn't want her to see me upset because then she would have been more upset, so with a quick, "I love you and I'll be back to pick you up after the playground," I quickly left my screaming child and made my escape. I was a mess on the way to the car and I had to shield my face from the other moms following their excited toddlers into the building (I'm sure they all cried later, right?). But after a few (10? 15?) minutes of welling up in the car I pulled myself together. After all, this it what preschool teachers sign up for, right?
Despite my list of "Things To Do While MiniM.E. is at Preschool" I accomplished nothing during the two hours I was home. (Which also can be attributed to the fact that I definitely broke my toe Tuesday night-- which does not seem like a huge deal, but trust me, when you are chasing a toddler around and climbing the stairs 20+ times a day and squatting down, is a VERY HUGE deal-- and I really couldn't do much moving around.)
I counted the minutes until it was time to get in the car to pick her up. Then I over estimated the time it took to get there and had to sit in the car in the parking lot for 7.5 minutes so I wouldn't be TOO early.
Good news is she was not crying and screaming when I arrived. She was calmly (though definitely not happily) sitting on a stool in the playground.
The teacher came over and gave me the run down: She cried and screamed for an hour. Then she was so exhausted she fell asleep for an hour. Reluctantly ate snack and followed them out to the playground.
Could have been worse, right?
The funny thing is, she wasn't upset once we got home. We talked about preschool and she told me all about it. "I cried a lot. I cried because you took too long to come back. Then I took a nap in two places. No one else was crying, just me. Bella was there but she was wearing different clothes than last time. I didn't want to eat my snack. I didn't go potty but they have magic soap there that comes out when you wave your hand under it. I forgot to use the typewriter. I didn't have fun at preschool and I don't want to go back there because I don't like the teacher and I don't want anyone else to be there."
Better luck Friday?
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