Foto Friday--Evie Goes to Preschool

Update from yesterday--no broken collar bone, Lily got her schedule changed, and Hyrum hasn't been sick since.  Just in case you were wondering.

First day of school ever. She laid her clothes out the night before.

I've been dreading this day all summer.  Evie is only three--four in October--and I'm sending her to organized preschool a year earlier than my other kids.  I've done Joy School many times before, but this year will be a little too complicated for me to surrender that much time to teaching, so I decided to enroll Evie in the same preschool where I sent Micah and Hyrum. 

I knew that Mrs. M (whom I adore, seriously) would be great, but I just didn't know how Eve would accept it.  All summer she had been insisting that she WASN'T going to school, that she didn't LIKE school, and that she was STAYING HOME.

I was worried. 

Eve doesn't like change, she doesn't like new things, and often she doesn't like people.  Sounds like a great recipe for school, doesn't it? I planned on disaster.  I planned on coming back to get her halfway through class.  I had also prepared myself for the possibility that she's really not ready yet, and completely pulling her out of school for another year.

All of these were real possibilities.

It was almost 9 am--starting time. Lily had late start on Wednesday, so she came with me, camera in hand, to drop off the little princess.

It didn't look good from the start.  She was excited, with her backpack and sparkly shoes, until I opened the door to get her out of the car--when she started to throw a small fit. Uh oh. Here we go, folks.

Actually, it wasn't too bad at all.

I walked into the classroom with her, got her settled at her seat with a few crayons and a project, and there were no tears.

She seemed to be okay until I turned to leave, but I knew something she didn't.

No matter how much she cried, I wasn't gonna stay.  Lucky for us both, she didn't cry.

And this is what I saw two and a half hours later:

She made it! 

When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, she didn't mention coloring or snack time or making Froot Loop necklaces.  Her two favorite parts of the day were getting in line, and then going out to find all the mamas waiting for all the kids. 

So what was her favorite part of the day?  That's right: coming home. But that's much better than I had anticipated.

She hopped in the Suburban and told me all about her day--the fishy crackers, the kids, who she played with, how the teachers helped her.

And when she got home, she immediately took out her binder and began coloring pages for the next day.

Day two was just as good--a little apprehensive at the beginning, but full of fun stories on the way home. 

Now maybe she'll be ready for the big hurdle next week--carpool.