Brandon's First Day of Preschool

Today was Brandon's first day of real preschool. He attended a couple of summer sessions at the local rec center, which were great, but this time preschool is really real. It's 3 days a week, from 8:15-11:15. I started calling it real preschool just to differentiate it from the summer sessions at the rec center. It's not fun when I haven't explained things as clearly as possible, and Brandon gets something mixed up. He is a routine-oriented boy who likes it all explained out in advance! So, anyway, I got up at 6:15 this morning just to make sure that I could not only get a shower in, but get all 3 of us out of the house by 8:00. The preschool is just down the street from our current house. I could walk there, but I'm not sure I want to dodge the traffic on two very busy streets just to get there, or push the stroller uphill for a good chunk of the way home. I might change my mind after having to put Caitlin in and out of the carseat 3 days a week, several times a day.

Brandon was in good spirits this morning. We've been talking about this for a while, but he is not allowed to watch any videos on preschool mornings. He was good about it today, too (surprise!). When he was somewhere around 18 months I discovered that he would actually watch a video, so I use to put one on in the mornings after he woke up so that I could get a shower. It's gotten out of hand, and I'm hoping that this might be a good way to stop morning videos all together. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The preschool day....

I think Brandon would have been just fine going from the car to his class without me. He was so excited to play and to be with other kids his age. When we got to Brandon's preschool class, he had to find his name on the whiteboard, on his cubby, and on a card near the door. When he finds his name card, he takes it out of the plastic, turns it over to show his picture, and then puts it back, picture side up. He was a little disappointed when the first card he pulled out wasn't his. It did say Brandon, but there are two Brandon's in his class. At least he knows his name! We just have to work on that last name initial. He's not use to being Brandon P. There was chapel today, so I didn't stay very long. Caitlin also wanted to play with the little kitchen set up in the corner, so getting her out was a feat. I think that's going to be the hardest part of dropping Brandon off and picking him up - all the fun toys!

When I went to pick him up at 11:15, all the kids were out in the play yard. Brandon was racing around with a few other boys. There are 15 boys and 6 girls in his class, so he'll get in his "boy" time in at school (saving mom the need to race around with him to wear him out). They were collecting "gold" in the play yard. Sand is a rare commodity here. All the playgrounds are covered in rocks. If you're lucky, you get the yellow/gold type, which consists of small, roundish rocks. These are in the good parks and schools, and don't tear up young skin like some of the other rock types. Brandon looks for the white quartz in the rocks, calling it all "gold". Caitlin wanted to swing, and Brandon wanted to keep playing, but we needed to go. That's when he got all pissy and whiny. He was so bad I ended up giving him a swat on the rear in the play yard! I'm not opposed to discipline (quite the opposite, actually), but I'm not a huge fan of having to physically discipline my kids in public. They're also better behaved in public, so I don't have to do it too often. But Brandon's gotten worse since we moved here. Could be his age. Could be a phase. Who knows. There are lots of books about parenting the strong-willed child, but none about parenting the whiny, rude child. Any suggestions? I don't want to repeat this scene every time I pick Brandon up from school. I think it will be easier during winter when the kids are in the gym.

All in all, preschool will be good for Brandon this year. He's so ready to go to school, and to be surrounded by other kids his age. We had friends that we saw regularly in California, so he socialized quite a bit. Our weeks were full without preschool! Here, it's a different story. We are alone most of the time now, and we're all growing accustom to it. It's been harder to make friends than I thought it would be, both for me and for the kids. Now that we have found our church, I can join the MOPS group and the Women's Bible Study, and start meeting other people. The kids can find friends and social times in their respective classes and the toddler room. Hopefully we'll find a house soon, and there will be families like ours in the neighborhood. We are looking for that, and looking forward to it as well!