Survived the first day of preschool..... barely

My oldest son (4) started preschool today. I actually thought it would go pretty well since we met his teacher yesterday and he seemed "keen." Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The morning quickly deteriorated into a major battle over clothing. He has become very particular about what he will wear and it usually the opposite of what I want. He refused to wear any of the polo shirts I recently bought for him (I'm tired of t shirts.) I gave in on that one but then he freaked out about his pants. I bought him some new brown fall-like pants that have an adjustable waist. The school doesn't want the kids wearing belts since they might need help doing those up after potty trips. Almost all of his jeans require belts so those were out. I wouldn't budge on the pants. He was screaming and crying forever. He said the pants were "too comfy and too soft." Then he said they were scratchy. ?? He cried all the way to school. My hubby went with us since we *thought* it would be a fun milestone to share. Ha! He clung to Daddy like white on rice! We waited until all the other kids had gone into the classroom and then we had to hand him over (physically) to the teacher's assistant. He continued to scream behind the closed door. We could still hear him as we walked down the hallway. I cried on the way home. It seemed like an eternity until pick up time. I was worried that my phone would ring and the school would call and ask me to come pick him up.

On a bright note, my youngest son handled it fine. I wondered if *he* would cry and want to go to school. (There was another little brother doing just that).

When it was time to go in and pick up my son, I stood at the doorway with nervous anticipation. I looked at the teacher with panicky eyes that said "did he do OK?" They said he did fine. I think he loved it. He was proud of the Fruit Loop necklace he brought home and is excited about the Scholastic book catalogue. Is that thing a racket or what?

He even let me take his picture this afternoon with the sign I made that says "First Day of Preschool 2007." A great idea I read in Family Fun magazine.

Oh - A said that he cried until circle time was over. Those poor teachers and kids!

I heard today that the son of a mom at my church reacted pretty much the same way as A did to his first day of preschool. We'll have to chat and commiserate!Pin It