This morning Julie very cheerfully and proudly donned her Care Bears backpack and trotted off to the car. We got to school and I put her Care Bears lunchbox in the fridge and her backpack in her cubby as she made a beeline for the painting area.* After a few splashy swipes with orange, red, and white (gobs of paint were later found in her hair, on her face, on the back of her neck, on her sneakers, and all over her clothing, since she refuses to wear a smock), I let her know that I'd be leaving soon and would return to pick her up after lunch. We'd already reviewed this procedure numerous times in the last week or two. She got upset and said, "No! I don't want you to leave, Mom! You stay and play with me." So I said, "OK, I'll stay for 2 more minutes and then I'm leaving," to which she agreed. Two minutes later, I reiterated my intentions, and she started crying and wailing, "No! You don't go, Mom!" I knew I had to leave, since I'd said I would, so I called the teacher over and asked her to help out. I kissed Julie and reminded her brightly that she was going to have lots of fun and that I'd pick her up after lunch. Her teacher crouched down to her level and started speaking sweet preschool-ese to her, so I left. I peeked back in the window and saw her still crying lightly and looking all dejected (slumped shoulders, pouty lower lip), but I left.
Next came Pete's private karate lesson. It was great! Derrick, the owner, has a terrific manner. I could tell that Pete was loving it, but he is very emotional and I saw his eyes well up with tears a couple of times, not because he was upset, but I think because it was all just very new and exciting for him. It's hard to explain, but he's just very sensitive about certain things. Derrick said he did better than expected for a beginner, because he's fast and a good listener. But afterward, Pete said he wasn't ready to sign up yet, so I said we'd talk about it and call back. He did later agree he wants to take classes, but I'm going to give him another couple of days to think about it. I do hope he agrees to do it, because I think it will help him excel in many other areas (certainly sports, but also confidence and self-control). Then we went to buy new cleats, because soccer starts tomorrow! (Go, Tigers!)
Later we went to pick up Julie. She was in a terrific mood and said she had a "great day"! She said she was sad at first, and I said maybe next time she wouldn't need to be sad when I left, and she agreed, "Maybe." One of the teachers said that she was indeed sad for a little while and didn't even want to join in for meeting time but watched instead. Julie said she built a tunnel out of blocks, drank purple juice, played in the sand at the playground, held hands with Brittany, and listened to a song about shoes. When we got home, she did not want to nap, but she ended up falling asleep immediately. I then had to wake her an hour later to get Steph, which was a drag. Steph said she had a good day, too. Come Monday, all 3 of them are off to school! I'll have 3 hours to myself, for the first time in quite a while. Oh, and still no luck on finding an afternoon sitter. Phooey.
*Most moms I know have one activity they won't allow in their house. Me, I have Play-Doh (d'oh!) crumbs all over the dining room, an entire screened porch dedicated to an indoor sandbox, and numerous slimy bottles of bubble stuff in the mudroom. What I don't have is paint. I can't deal with paint. Yes, we have a few of those little watercolor palettes that come with art kits, but they are generally used once in the kitchen, on top of newspapers, and with a babysitter—then they (the paints, not the babysitters) magically vanish. To me, the whole painting area—big cups of paint, big brushes, big sheets of paper, and big easels—is alone worth the price of preschool tuition.
Paint I can handle; Play-Doh is manageable; even glue is allowed. The material I detest is glitter. It gets everywhere and there is no effective way to clean it up. Nonetheless, about once a year (usually in anticipation of Valentine's Day) I bring it out and let the kids use it as they will. Maybe our new vacuum will be up to the challenge.
Yes, I do know about glitter pens and glitter glue and glitter paint. We use them all. (The glitter pens are pretty useless for young children, except in the realm of three-dimensional art that never dries.) These I can handle, just don't let sprinkle glitter darken my doorstep!
Posted by: Susan W. | September 11, 2004 at 01:35 AM