Tuesday was the start of the rainy season in our area, oh, and the start of the school year. Lucy hasn't really skipped a beat. She was excited and eager to get to school. Harper was up early, ready early, and really ready to get to her first day of preschool.
During the first week of school the school allows you to walk your child to their classroom and make sure they are happy and settled. We battled the rain and ended up in the lobby. As I am parking the stroller, Lucy says, "Mom, I want to go to my classroom by myself. I don't need you to go with me. I know where it is, who my teacher is and where my seat is. I'll just go ahead and go". Double checking with her (I know, I didn't really need to) and agree to let her go by herself. Harper doesn't start school until 20 minutes later so we were hanging in the lobby watching other kids skip to their room, or cling to their moms or greet their friends when parents of one of Lucy's friends come over to say hello. They said their daughter was crying and carrying on in the classroom and Lucy was the one to help out. They said Lucy came over and said, "It's going to be alright." And I hesitated to let her go by herself!
Next up with the little big sis. She sat on a bench with her little ladybug backpack on her back, elephant lunchbox on her lap and a big smile on her face. Every once in a while she would suck her thumb, but she really was pretty relaxed. Then a boy named Maddux came over and began holding her hand. He was a bit aggressive in hand holding, but Harper let him. Then her teacher came over and lined all the preschoolers up. Since there are special needs kids in her class, they don't let you walk them to the room, they want the good byes to be away from the room. Harper began walking away and stopped, turned to me and gave me a double thumbs up sign and a big smile. She was going to be just fine.
And fine she was, or even better, she has been great all week. She takes pride in her role as "helper" and even goes above and beyond with a couple of the little girls- one with down syndrome and the other wears two hearing aids and is very young. She plays baby dolls with them, holds hands with them as they walk down the hall and always says hello and good bye to them. Her teachers say that she is very chatty and energetic and every day she says, "Can I go back to preschool?" Oh yes, you can go back 4 days a week! And it is STILL raining. And is forecasted to rain tomorrow as well. Rain outside and bright futures inside.
