first day of school

Monday was E's first day back to PDO. She is now in the Funny Frogs room (and looks like a big girl indeed).

On Sunday night we role played dropping her off, attempting to get her to imagine being slightly sad but okay with the idea. Ashley was the teacher, and I "drove" Eden to school then introduced myself to the teach and told Eden I would be back at 2:00. She whined (though it was rather fake) then said "Bye, Daddy." At "2:00" I came back, and we drove back home. Then, once at home, she asked for Momma. We raced to the back door to greet Ashley from her day at work.

We did this 4 or 5 times, each playing different roles (at one point I was Eden and Eden was Ashley). Overall, it seemed to work.

Although she had a bit of a break down when Ashley left for work [*Editor's Note: She was screaming at the top of her lungs banging on the back door. Not the best way to start the day], she was all smiles on the drive to school. Once we got to school and they opended the doors, she first went to inspect the baby room and say hello to Ms. Marie and Ms. Delores. Then, it was to her room from last year and Ms. Michelle and Ms. Jennifer. She started to play with some of the toys, and I had to remind her that she had a new room. "What room this, Daddy?" "This is your old room; this year, you have a new room. You are going to go to Josie's old room." At that, she got an excited look on her face, gasped a bit, put down the toy, and raced to the end of the hall.

We met her teachers (she was sick during the open house on Thursday), and she immediately began to play with the kitchen set. When it was time for me to leave I asked for a hug and kiss. She obliged then told me bye. Only a few little wimpers followed.

I think the first day back was more traumatic for Ashley than for Eden - Ashley stayed home with her all summer and enjoyed every minute (or at least every other minute) of it. Throughout the summer I was simply awe-struck by how awesome a mom Ashley is, really, I'm not just saying that. Although we all miss our summer, we feel truly blessed to have found her PDO.

Conincidentally, Monday was also Ashley's first day back teaching. So, we had to capture the moment ...

Eden's teachers both said she was "just so great" when we picked her up on Monday and Tuesday. Eden has even had perfect days at school with pottying - no accidents! She did, however, decide to pee in her pants 5 times between the time Ashley got home on Monday at 3 and dinnertime (Ashley even had to change clothes 3 times). E was definitely trying to tell us something.

 

Thankfully, the rest of the week has been a lot better. Eden has not had any accidents while at school, and Ashley and Eden have had fun afternoons while at home. When Ashley asked Eden about her day on Monday, Eden said,

 

"I not paint my feet. I paint my feet in my old room. My teacher paint my feet on the table, not the floor - ooh, yucky."

 

We knew Eden was talking about all of the artwork she did last year where her teacher's painted her feet and then stamped them for the artwork, but we had never heard anything about a table. When Ashley asked her old teachers about it the next day, they said that yes they had painted the kids' feet while they were up on the changing table and that they often told Eden the floor was yucky so she'd keep her shoes on.

 

Amazing that she remembered that from last year. Makes us wonder what she'll remember about this one.