First Day of Preschool

Dorothy has been anxiously awaiting this day for a long, long time.  She is finally three and can go to school with her brother!  I'm not sure which one of us is most excited.  Her birthday is Christmas Eve, and that morning, she woke up and announced, "I three!  I go to school now!"  It was hard to convince her that while, yes, she was now three, school was closed for a couple of weeks.  It didn't help when she got her backpack for Christmas.  She spent most of that day filling it up with "school stuff" like Lego's, a giant magnet, and other little toys.

Today was finally the day, and she was so eager to get started.  I usually put her in the stroller when we walk her brother to school, but since she is going too, she had to walk.  We are going to have to leave a little earlier in the mornings because she is a little slower than Malcolm, but she did a great job walking, even with the ice patches on the sidewalks.  I didn't get any pictures, because as soon as we started to walk, she asked to hold my hand.  *melt*

Both kids, ready to go to school.  

My big three year old.  

With her giant backpack.  It was the smallest I could find, but it still looks huge on her.  I added the panda and her name, which I will write up soon on my craft blog.

At the front door, ready to go in.  I couldn't get her to look at me because she was watching another child getting out of his car.

I had to drop off some paperwork and sort out some other things, so I was able to see her settle in a bit.  This little girl was so cute and sweet helping get Dorothy all set up to draw.  The little girl was giving me great details about what she would do to make Dorothy feel better if she started to cry, but a I assured her that that wasn't likely to happen.  Dorothy was in heaven.  Free access to markers, that mommy is much too lazy to supervise at home?  Score!

Diving into the markers.

Her brother came over to do some work with her too.  I don't know how long that will last, but it was really sweet of him to try to look out for her a bit on her first day.

Mom, you can go now.

Dorothy's teacher said that she had a great first day and that she loved yoga.  When we got home, I asked her what her favorite thing at school was, and she told me, "That sleeping thing."  I asked if she meant yoga, and it appears that she did.  Her teacher did mention that she thinks the first time she spoke was when I was picking her up, but Dorothy is like that.  She has been with the same gymnastics coach for over a year now, and it just starting to answer questions and has said something spontaneously once.  I hope she warms up a little quicker at school, and I think around the other kids, she will.  By Fall, they will probably be asking for ideas on how to keep her quiet.

She goes to school again tomorrow, but I'm a little worried about what will happen on Wednesday when her brother goes, and she doesn't.  It might be OK, since she has gymnastics class to look forward to, or there might be tears.  I think I'm going to have her in the stroller so she can't bolt in the door where I would have to drag her out again.

I brought the wagon for our walk home, because when Malcolm started school he was so exhausted he couldn't even walk.  She insisted on pulling the wagon.

She made it across the street for a little way...

...before decided that she was tired after all.

What did I do with about two and a half hours of kid free time?  I took myself out to breakfast, where I was not interrupted once, and ate and read a book in peace.  Then, I stopped by the fabric store to get some thread I needed.  Finally, I popped in the kid consignment shop where I had some clothes to be sold, and picked up my six items that were left, and used part of my credit to get Malcolm a new shirt.  What a fabulous morning!