My Day At Preschool

I think I was about as excited as Gracie this morning when I got her dressed and out the door for Preschool.

I woke her up extra early this morning, since my little slow poke had extra clothes to put on, plus the kitty cat makeup. We actually got everything together on time, and we made it to the car with her costume on, ghost lollipops in hand, and nectarine jack-o-lanterns (4 hours of my life I will never get back!!) balanced in the other. That was when my first hurdle occurred.

We were finally in the car on time for the first time in weeks, when a heavy frost made me take several minutes to clear the car. Cold and shivering, I pile in the car and head down the block. I get Gracie inside and all of her goodies and ask again if it is okay that I come back.

I am really excited about getting a sneak peak at what Gracie does during the day, and then I start to feel embarrassed. How silly of me to ask to attend a preschool party clearly meant for the kids. No other parents were so sad as to want to attend and take pictures. I am starting to realize how stupid it was of me, and how goofy those dedicated teachers must think I am. I am only going to be in the way and look silly as the only parent there. I have no doubt that my daughter will be confessing this to a shrink years later about how her pathetic mommy scared her for life. But, now I am in a predicament. I no longer want to go, but I made a promise, and I don't want to give the impression that I am flaky on top of goofy.

So, I went anyway. When I got there around 10:30, they were not ready for their snack/party at all. I asked what I could do to help, and they put me to work right a way (whew!). I filled the kids treat bags with goodies the parents sent. Then, I helped fix the plates for each kid. They were so smart to put a little of everything on each plate and then put the plates at the table.

There was so much food. And I was feeling helpful instead of a nuisance. Plus, much to my relief another mother showed.

Now, the whole reason I showed was to watch and take pictures. Here comes the other snag in the plan. I pull my camera out to start clicking away, and what should happen? My batteries are dead. My heart sinks. I knew I should have charged them last night. Those stinky batteries don't hold a charge for more than a day. As you can imagine, new batteries are at the top of my list for the grocery store this week. Now I feel even more goofy, just standing there, and I can't even take pictures, which I mentioned was the whole reason I asked to attend.

It took me 5 minutes to remember--hey, I have a camera on my phone! The pictures are very grainy (as you can see), but something is better than nothing!

It takes me a minute to remember how to use the thing, and then I start snapping away. Crisis averted.

After 10 minutes or so, the kids finish gobbling up their huge plates full of treats. One by one the costumed 3 year olds take their plates to the trash and get cleaned up. I am noticing, but at this point not caring so much, that one by one my jack-o-lanterns are getting dumped uneaten. I am not surprised by this since I heard several of the kids calling out "apples, eww!" when they got to the table. Ms. Stephanie has already mentioned that they don't have to eat what they don't like. But, apparently this doesn't stop a few of them from complaining about anything healthy on their plates. I chuckled under my breath and thanked God for a "good eater."

Actually, the morning went very well, and I was happy that I got a chance to see what goes on while Gracie is at school. And, the teachers were so gracious and thanked me repeatedly for helping out.

So, what did Gracie do in school today? For starters she is a good listener and well behaved. One worry to cross off. She stayed in her seat when I came in, she followed all directions the teacher gave her, and she participated. While I helped out, they finished up taking pictures of each child in their costumes and discussing what every one was. Gracie sat quietly at her seat and answered too. Then, the kids got tickets to wash hands. I guess that is to make sure everyone gets washed. Next, they gathered round for story time. They read a Teeny Witch story about her Halloween ride. They sang the Johnny Appleseed blessing and headed back to their seats where the plates that I had helped fix were waiting. It took them 10 minutes or so to eat, and then as they finished they were allowed to get a book to read on the floor. Oh, and they were allowed to get books and read at their seats while they waited to wash hands earlier too. So, they always keep them busy. Idle hands, idle hands. The kids are getting restless and there isn't much time left, so Ms. Stephanie starts a game of Mr. Pumpkin Says.

After being there for nearly and hour, I am starting to notice the trouble makers in the room, and just how good these women are at keeping 20 kids under control! Mason is the biggest ball of energy that doesn't always listen. That would be the kid who sits next to Gracie and picks at her.

She rounds them up again with promises that everyone gets a smiley thumb today. They sit back at their chairs and sing the Goodbye Song. Oh, if only my camera had worked I would have videoed it. Too precious!!!!

It was time to go at this point.

Clearly Gracie gets a lot of activity and positive reinforcement at school and I am so blessed that she has such a wonderful atmosphere to learn and grow. Plus, now with a better idea of what happens when I am not around, I can cross off yet another worry off my list.


Oh, and by the way, I took 20 nectarines, scooped out all of the middles (2 hours), drew jack-o-lantern faces on them (30 minutes), made Jello to fill them and filled them (30 minutes). Some leak, and then I am thinking that we really aren't supposed to cook anything that goes to school. I scoop out all of the Jello from each one (10 minutes) which has hardened in the 30 minutes I second guess myself. I then open cans of sugar-free fruit cocktail in the pantry, convincing myself that this isn't cooking and surely they will let them have them. (20 minutes) Another note: after I did all that and the kids wouldn't eat them, I should mention that one mom (or dad) made rice crispy treats in the shape of a spider and added licorice legs for each kid, one mom made those Halloween shape cookies that you find in the refrigerator section, and another mom baked cupcakes! And, no matter how cute my ghost lollipops were, I couldn't surpass the mother who made each kid a little pumpkin canvas bag and wrote their names on them in puffy paint and filled them with treats! Lesson learned. About the snack anyway. No sense in putting a lot of time in to something that they probably aren't going to eat anyway. As for the pumpkin bags, I say who has that kind of time, but secretly I am thinking "man, I wish I had thought of that--it was so cute!"

The rest of the pictures I took today are in the Halloween folder. They aren't very good, but they are there if you want to see them. Click here.

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