Preschool Update - October

Bridget has been in preschool for a month. If I didn't know better, I'd think it had been at least a year. She gets her backpack ("pack pack") on in the morning (she grabs it and brings it to me). She gets her shoes and stands by the front door. She says "BYE!" and blows kisses. This is all at least 20 minutes before her bus comes :).

The funny thing is that we didn't start any of our other kids in preschool until they were almost four. Bridget was barely three when she began. She is going three hours a day, four days a week--where the other kids went two and 1/2 hours, two days a week at about her age. I wasn't sure she was ready, but it turns out that I wasn't ready. She is thriving. She's such a big girl and she is loving school.

She rides the bus, walks into school by herself & hangs up her book bag. She is learning (and learning to say) the names of her classmates, enjoying free play at school (especially in the housekeeping area--not a surprise), and is energetic when she gets home. (I remember that Kyle, especially, was often asleep in the corner when I came to pick him up during his first year of preschool.)

I wait for Bridget's bus to arrive every day after school, and as it pulls around the corner toward our house, I think about how much I have missed my little girl. Her sweet face in the window is priceless. I can see her mouthing "MOM!" as soon as the bus stops at the end of our driveway. Bridget jumps into my arms, turns to wave good-bye to the bus driver and bus aide, then takes my hand and bounds up the driveway, blowing me kisses and telling me along the way if she wants me to stop, or jump :) or whatever else. She has become a bit of a D-I-V-A, telling people where to walk, how fast to walk, when to "STOP" and when to "GO". (She must be picking this up in school, but I don't know all the details yet. I am sure I will hear about it, though.)

When we come inside, she kicks off her shoes and puts her book bag on the bench in our mudroom. She immediately heads to the powder room to grab the step stool and wash her hands, then asks to "EAT! EAT! EAT!". After lunch, she wants to watch an episode of Dora or Max & Ruby, followed by a nap. Sounds like the life, doesn't it?

More on preschool tomorrow...