first day of preschool

Today is Karalee's first day of preschool. I have been so nervous, and driving Ben crazy with my worries. Kara has been getting so excited to go. She was up with Ben this morning, and when I woke up, she came in and said, "mommy! It's morning! do you know what that means?" I asked her what it meant, and she excidedly said, "Time to go to school now!" She was up earlier than I expected, so she was a little restless sitting around waiting for Kiersten and me to be ready. She ate her breakfast and then started asking if it was time to leave. So I had to keep thinking of things for her to do to help the time pass more quickly.
Here she is showing off her new school outfit, and one of her new necklaces she got last night as a first day of school surprise. It was a little rainy, so I made her wear a coat. She was worried that nobody could see her new clothes, so I had to promise she could take her coat off as soon as she got to school. On the drive over, she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong. I thought she might be getting nervous. She said she didn't like how I had done her hair, and she didn't want the other kids to see it. I told her it looked cute, and they would like her no matter how her hair was. She said, "I just want to look like me." I'm probably the only person who would know that is what she says when she wants to wear her hair down with all of her natural curl. So I told her we will do her hair that way tomorrow, and that she looked really nice for her first day. That cheered her up, and she asked, "do I look like a big girl with my hair?" I assured her that she did, and reminded her that she was going to have fun at school. When I looked back less than a minute later, she had fallen asleep. I guess she woke up too early this morning. So that made sense of the uncharacteristic crying. She always gets weepy when she's tired.

Her school is in Tacoma, but it's only a 15-20 minute drive. I wasn't sure how the traffic would be, so I left 45 minutes early, and stopped for gas, and we were still 20 minutes early. There were 3 other girls already there, so they got to play until the start of school. Kara was not shy at all, and made friends with them immediately. They were so cute showing each other their new backpacks, and complimenting each other's outfits. It was funny to see that 3 and 4 year olds have such similar social interactions to adults. But I guess it is us that they learn it from.

Here she is in the classroom. She was thrilled when Mrs. Wright showed her a cubby with her name on it. She asked if she could write her name on the chalkboard, and was satisfied to hear that her teacher would write it there once class began so all the kids who were there yesterday could meet her, and the other first-dayers. I forgot her lunch, so I had to come back to bring it in at 11:30. All the kids were lined up to wash their hands, and She jumped out of line when she saw me and announced, "my mommy brought my lunch!" But she got right back in line when told to do so. She was talking quietly with the girl standing behind her when I left. I am not concerned about her making friends or fitting in. All my weeks of worrying weren't neccesary after all. But there is still the issue of what if there is some sort of natural disaster or emergency, and I can't get to her. I guess I'll just have to deal with that situation if it comes up, and let Kara have fun at school. I was glad to find that there are very many ways to get to the school other than on the interstate, so that makes me feel better.

And here's a picture of Kiersten eating a nutella sandwich, just so I don't leave her out of the post. She has asked about Kara a few times, but she doesn't seem worried. She even did fine at the gym without Kara there. I was worried she would be upset, but she was perfectly happy, and the babysitter had no problem with her. I also have to say, we did a few errands today, and I am amazed at how quickly I got things done, just by being down one kid. But that doesn't mean I wont be happy when thursday gets here, and I get to keep my Kara bear home with me all day!