We are entering a new era in our household this week, our first and only (thus far) baby is going to preschool! While I am super excited for this to happen, it doesn’t come without a certain amount of sadness that my baby is growing up faster than anyone could have prepared me for. It seems like just yesterday she was wrapped up in my arms after 72 hours of labor.
Dealing with Guilt
Her official first day is September 9th. She’s going to the same preschool that I went to when I was 3 years old, which I think is pretty awesome. This will be the first time that my daughter will be in a group setting since she was born. While I work a full-time corporate job, she was fortunate enough to spend her first year of life with grandparents who watched her and now she splits her time between grandparents and an in-home nanny. We had to cut back a lot financially to afford a nanny 3 days a week for the last several months but we knew that once she was in preschool our daycare bill would be cut two-thirds so we decided it was worth it. I really had a hard time with choosing her daycare arrangements. I do a fairly good job at leaving the mom guilt behind and realizing that working is not only a financial necessity for us, but something that is important to me. I do believe a huge reason that I have handled the mom guilt so well was because of our daycare arrangements. For this reason, I do partially dread the first day of preschool. I’ve only had her cry after me once in the last 3 years. What if she won’t let me leave her first day of class? I don’t think I can handle leaving her if she’s crying after me. Can you tell the mom guilt I am experiencing over this? I hope to report back after her first day that all went well, my feelings included!
Making New Traditions
One thing I am super excited about is starting a new yearly school tradition. I started a Pinterest board with a bunch of ideas and free printables for first day pictures. I adore an idea I ran into a few weeks ago on iHeart Organizing called Creating a School Memory Bank. This is the perfect time to make sure I save all of her school items in one place. Just recently I was going through my own childhood memories which were a cluttered mess. I have report cards from miscellaneous years and who knows what date any of my artwork was created. I sure hope my daughter appreciates how organized I have kept her childhood memories. Some day I will share my strategy for digital organization, for now just know that it makes me look very neurotic! I’ll make sure to write a follow up post for everyone to see the tradition we chose for our first day of school picture. Wish us luck, this is the beginning of a new era!
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7 thoughts on “When Preschool Happens”
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Hang in there, mom! I’m betting you’re both going to be just fine. Even if the first day is rocky, you’ll both get into the swing of things in no time. You’re doing what’s right for your family – that’s all that matters!
Thanks Emma!
No kidding…I just got back to work after dropping off my 2nd son to his first day of preschool and this was in my inbox. He had a similar experience of day care as your daughter up to this point. He was happy and as soon as I walked out with my husband I was the one hysterical…of course. (And yes I did the same thing when it was our first son.) I hope your transition is smooth. Here’s to first days!
I hear ya! We ended up getting sick on week 2 and when she went back she had a meltdown and then I had a meltdown and it was just awful. Now every night before school she asks me if I really have to leave her. Its been really hard on us!