Our Big Kid is in Preschool

Jonah officially started preschool on Tuesday. We went to the Open House the Wednesday before, and I left wondering what I was worried about. My child, the one who has only been pooping in the potty for about 2 months (although keeping his underwear clean for a year), inspected the boys' toilet, did all his business there (numbers 1 and 2), cleaned himself off, got himself dressed again, and washed his hands like a pro. He ate the snack, and inspected the toys. He is so happy that his "best friend" Jackson is in his preschool class.

On Tuesday, he was fine. I was slightly emotional, but much better than I was worried that I was going to be. Grady, Jackson's mom Marne, and I went and had coffee and a crepe at the Perk and Play coffee shop, and I couldn't believe how long Jonah was actually at preschool (2 1/2 hours can seem really long on the first day especially when I'm not really used to leaving him).

Here's some pictures of both Jonah and Jackson outside and inside the preschool (they would only smile in pictures of them together), and of the three of us inspecting Jonah's art work from his first day:


Jonah was pretty emotional (cried a lot and needed to be held) after he got home. Little things really set him off that day like his macaroni touching his grapes on his lunch plate. The wonderful thing is that he is so verbal he can tell me in great detail everything that happened with a little prompting on the way. For example, the teacher wouldn't let Jackson and him play with the dump truck, so they played with the bulldozer with another little boy whose name he doesn't know. There aren't wood chips but dirt on the playground, but there aren't trucks to play with outside. They sang "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" but didn't use motions on "Twinkle, Twinkle." You get the idea. So, I knew that nothing terrible had happened, but I know that my little boy has a definite streak of perfectionism in him. He was holding all the stress in of being in a new environment with new adults and kids and not really knowing what was expected of him. Then when he got home, it all poured out of him. I told him it's ok to miss his family, and that it's a wonderful idea to introduce yourself to new friends and get to know their names. We all went out for ice cream again to celebrate Jonah's "big kid in preschool status". By Thursday (preschool is every Tuesday and Thursday morning), he was a pro. He went in the classroom, I helped him find his nametag, he put it on a cubby, put his backpack in, went to wash his hands and sat down in the circle after a hug and a kiss goodbye. That's all our Jonah needs. To understand what is expected of him. My big 3 1/2 year old boy will thrive in preschool this year, I just know it.