Yep, you read that correctly. Miss G had her first day of preschool yesterday and it was AMAZING! Absolutely positively a very, very “Good Thing for Gwendolyn!”
The second we asked Gwendolyn if she would like to start going to school again, her little fingers tapped so fast and her eyes rolled up quickly to say, “Yes, yes, yes.” And when the big day arrived she was beside herself. She helped pick out her first day of school outfit (it was “blue day” and her new blue horse shirt just arrived in the mail, so this was easy). She helped remind us what to bring. And she even allowed both Mommy and Daddy to go with her on the special first day.
The second she saw the school she was so excited. And as each teacher enthusiastically greeted her, told her how long her hair is and how happy they are to see her, G's eye twinkle got even brighter. She wanted to go find her cubby right away, go do a craft (painting a whale blue), go see what new items were in the dress up area, and see all her friends. Gwendolyn was soooooo beyond excited when two little girls from last year called out to her from inside the tree, “Gwendolyn! Gwendolyn! We are in the tree. Come see us.” She sat under the tree looking up at them with so much joy. It was such a typical 3 – 4 year-old interaction — talking about trees and monkeys, which, of course, segued into flamingos. Hysterical. And we were so thrilled to meet several new friends who immediately were so sweet to Gwendolyn — one little girl wanted to give G high fives and love pats which Gwendolyn adored.
Gwendolyn then mosied over to the swing area and to our delight started demanding to swing just like she did every day last year. And this time her teachers brought out her new special tumbleform/hammock swing, which made all the children curious. Several new friends immediately wanted to take turns pushing Gwendolyn and she loved that. And then after she got out they all wanted to try her purple tumbleform/hammock swing and we absolutely loved that Gwendolyn's special swing became a special experience and, perhaps for the first time, others wanted to be part of something Gwendolyn was doing physically. And that made her feel awesome.
She then got to go to a new snack room with a new group of children. This room had rainbows everywhere and lots of fun things to see. And while the other children were making their way in and getting hands washed and settled, Gwendolyn got to do a puzzle on her iPad with Miss Amy. She thought this was really fun and we know she is going to enjoy using the iPad at school more this year. During snack, she asked for grapes and proudly held her blue napkin. And it was so adorable seeing her nod in agreement when Miss Cindy started the routine of reading stories and asking questions. Gwendolyn clearly felt so comfortable and confident.
On our way home, Gwendolyn's fingers tapped with speed and her eyes didn't stop rolling upward in enthusiasm as we recapped the day's events. She loved it! Today was a good day and we are so proud of our little butterfly. And we can't believe our little girl is in her second year of preschool, technically she is now in Pre-K, which means next year she starts Kindergarten. Kinder-freakin-garten! But I'm getting ahead of myself… This year — this preschool year is going to be a very good year filled with very good things for Gwendolyn — we just know it!