*I just realized that I never published this post, despite the fact that I wrote it 10 days ago. So here it is!
Oh, hello October 10th! You certainly came out of nowhere! Once again, I am totally and utterly behind on my blog. I swore, SWORE, to myself that I would not post less than once a week at the absolute minimum...and here we are like 3 weeks later. I hate my "recap" style posts. I am going to be a better poster in 2011. New Years Resolution, baby! :-)
Let's talk preschool! Colin is doing AMAZING. It took exactly one month, but a couple of weeks ago, he turned the corner and started walking into his classroom on his own. Without crying. I felt like (and continue to feel like) a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and sunshine and joy rained down around me. Now, things are not perfect...he still tells me that he doesn't like school and still has a very hard time getting dressed and actually leaving the house. However, he adores Miss Gina and Miss Kelli and talks about them like they are saints. God knew what I needed this year and he truly blessed us with those teachers. When Colin sees them, the tears go away and he literally runs into their arms. After 5 weeks of twice weekly classes, Colin still has not gotten a bad report. Every day that I pick him up, they tell me how wonderful he was and what a joy he is to be around. I feel happy in the depths of my soul over this! Colin is working on learning that he can miss me and have fun at the same time. You can literally see him battling with this concept. He still does not like to share details with me about his days at school and the information that I do get, such as talk of his "best friend Clark" and the songs he sings, come at random times when I am not asking about it. He seems to think it is important that I know how sad it makes him to leave me and that sharing happy stories about school will somehow diminish that. He is only 3, but his thought processes sometimes make me think he is 40. :-) The bottom line is that Colin is making such amazing progress and I am thrilled beyond measure about it!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A Weekend with the Girls!
Let's talk about THE BEST WEEKEND in the whole world! My wonderful friend Eren invited a group of us to spend the weekend at her in-laws lake house. It was not quite 2 hours away and it ended up being a much needed respite from life! The husbands stayed home with the kids and we stayed there on Friday and Saturday night and came home on Sunday. This was my very first time away from home without Colin and while I missed him terribly, it felt amazing to be child-free with my girlfriends!
We all arrived on Friday night and proceeded to drink a few bottles of wine and gossip about everything under the sun, most of which was unsuitable for children. HA! We all went to bed after 2am, which is absolutely unthinkable! I still can't believe we did that! We woke up on Saturday morning and proceeded to do absolutely nothing. It was HEAVEN. We made coffee and took it out to the huge back deck overlooking the lake. We sat around in rocking chairs and talked and basked in the breeze through the trees. Kayrene made a delicious breakfast casserole (one of my favorite things in the world), which went a long way with soaking up the full bottle of wine in my stomach from the night before. ;-) We spent a couple of hours inside the house, and I had one of my own little internal moments that made me smile. At one point, Hannah was sitting on the floor with all of her nail polish supplies and began giving herself a manicure. The other girls were scattered on various couches and chairs and we were all still in our pj's. I was nursing my 3rd cup of coffee and we were cracking each other up with the most hysterical stories. It took me right back to high school and for an instant, I was 17 years old again. It reminded me of the days when we had no responsibilities and all of my time was spent holed up at a friends house, doing our nails and waiting to get ready for a night out. These were the days before careers and families and even husbands. That morning, I was just a girl sitting around with her friends with absolutely nowhere to be. It was beyond wonderful and I think it gave me back a little piece of myself.
Hannah brought AWESOME BBQ chicken sandwiches and pesto pasta salad for lunch and we continued our weekend of delicious food. I loved her pulled BBQ chicken so much that I just made it for dinner last night after stealing the recipe! :-) After lunch, we slipped into our bathing suits and headed back outside to sit in the sun. We all pulled our chairs around on the deck and turned a long chaise into a group footrest. Shelly brought a giant stack of magazines and we passed them around and began sharing more stories and pointing things out from our educational reading. HA! We took a few silly pictures with the timer set on my camera and then made a round of cocktails. Hannah brought a game that really just consisted of a deck of cards with all kinds of revealing questions that we all had to answer. I found out so much about my friends...in a good way! :-) We started to notice that the sun was beginning to set! We had spent all day together without even thinking about getting dressed! I can't explain how wonderful that was! We all took showers and primped for our dinner out at Jalapeno Tree and managed to make it there by around 8, although I can't be totally sure on the time, since I rarely looked at a watch! After a great dinner and margarita's, we came back home and took a series of quite possibly the funniest pictures of all time before changing back into pj's. It did not take long to settle back down in the middle of the living room with cocktails, birthday cake for Eren and an awesome game called "Apples to Apples". In this game, one person turns over a card with a word on it like "Adorable" and then the other players draw 7 cards. You have to play whatever card you think fits the word that was played. The person who is "it" turns over all the players cards and then decides which one they think best fits. It did not sound that exciting, but it ended up being HYSTERICAL and one of my favorite memories of the weekend! You would have to play a card, even if none of yours worked in the situation and it made for some sidesplitting moments! Eren was serious about winning, which had me in stitches from the very start and Shelly was killing me! Every time someone would get ready to judge the cards, she would say, "Okay, now before you turn those cards over, I want you to think about...." and then try to explain her choice, despite the fact that you are not supposed to know who played what card! Oh my lord, I was rolling with laughter. It didn't hurt that we were drinking wine again. ;-) At one point, the card was something like "Funny" and I think Shelly played "Custer's Last Stand". It was HI-larious! You probably had to be there. LOL!
We all drove home on Sunday morning, but made Eren promise that we could do it again ASAP! I am SO GLAD that I was invited and I definitely made memories that will last for a LONG time! What a perfect girls weekend with the best friends a girl could ask for!
Here we are after dinner...Shelly makes up the funniest poses ever and we try to reenact them...with mixed results. What the hell am I doing? Rachel and I are totally lost, clearly. And Shelly just cracks me up in this one!
Outside on the deck...looking super hot! ;-)
Is that a good day or what?!? :-)
We all arrived on Friday night and proceeded to drink a few bottles of wine and gossip about everything under the sun, most of which was unsuitable for children. HA! We all went to bed after 2am, which is absolutely unthinkable! I still can't believe we did that! We woke up on Saturday morning and proceeded to do absolutely nothing. It was HEAVEN. We made coffee and took it out to the huge back deck overlooking the lake. We sat around in rocking chairs and talked and basked in the breeze through the trees. Kayrene made a delicious breakfast casserole (one of my favorite things in the world), which went a long way with soaking up the full bottle of wine in my stomach from the night before. ;-) We spent a couple of hours inside the house, and I had one of my own little internal moments that made me smile. At one point, Hannah was sitting on the floor with all of her nail polish supplies and began giving herself a manicure. The other girls were scattered on various couches and chairs and we were all still in our pj's. I was nursing my 3rd cup of coffee and we were cracking each other up with the most hysterical stories. It took me right back to high school and for an instant, I was 17 years old again. It reminded me of the days when we had no responsibilities and all of my time was spent holed up at a friends house, doing our nails and waiting to get ready for a night out. These were the days before careers and families and even husbands. That morning, I was just a girl sitting around with her friends with absolutely nowhere to be. It was beyond wonderful and I think it gave me back a little piece of myself.
Hannah brought AWESOME BBQ chicken sandwiches and pesto pasta salad for lunch and we continued our weekend of delicious food. I loved her pulled BBQ chicken so much that I just made it for dinner last night after stealing the recipe! :-) After lunch, we slipped into our bathing suits and headed back outside to sit in the sun. We all pulled our chairs around on the deck and turned a long chaise into a group footrest. Shelly brought a giant stack of magazines and we passed them around and began sharing more stories and pointing things out from our educational reading. HA! We took a few silly pictures with the timer set on my camera and then made a round of cocktails. Hannah brought a game that really just consisted of a deck of cards with all kinds of revealing questions that we all had to answer. I found out so much about my friends...in a good way! :-) We started to notice that the sun was beginning to set! We had spent all day together without even thinking about getting dressed! I can't explain how wonderful that was! We all took showers and primped for our dinner out at Jalapeno Tree and managed to make it there by around 8, although I can't be totally sure on the time, since I rarely looked at a watch! After a great dinner and margarita's, we came back home and took a series of quite possibly the funniest pictures of all time before changing back into pj's. It did not take long to settle back down in the middle of the living room with cocktails, birthday cake for Eren and an awesome game called "Apples to Apples". In this game, one person turns over a card with a word on it like "Adorable" and then the other players draw 7 cards. You have to play whatever card you think fits the word that was played. The person who is "it" turns over all the players cards and then decides which one they think best fits. It did not sound that exciting, but it ended up being HYSTERICAL and one of my favorite memories of the weekend! You would have to play a card, even if none of yours worked in the situation and it made for some sidesplitting moments! Eren was serious about winning, which had me in stitches from the very start and Shelly was killing me! Every time someone would get ready to judge the cards, she would say, "Okay, now before you turn those cards over, I want you to think about...." and then try to explain her choice, despite the fact that you are not supposed to know who played what card! Oh my lord, I was rolling with laughter. It didn't hurt that we were drinking wine again. ;-) At one point, the card was something like "Funny" and I think Shelly played "Custer's Last Stand". It was HI-larious! You probably had to be there. LOL!
We all drove home on Sunday morning, but made Eren promise that we could do it again ASAP! I am SO GLAD that I was invited and I definitely made memories that will last for a LONG time! What a perfect girls weekend with the best friends a girl could ask for!
Here we are after dinner...Shelly makes up the funniest poses ever and we try to reenact them...with mixed results. What the hell am I doing? Rachel and I are totally lost, clearly. And Shelly just cracks me up in this one!
Outside on the deck...looking super hot! ;-)
Is that a good day or what?!? :-)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Updates from a Busy Week!
Well, life is just moving right along in our little household. As of right now, Colin is at school and completing his second week. He is doing pretty darn good, all things considered. On Tuesday, we made it all the way to the classroom before he started screaming and crying, which was a big improvement. He still had to be pulled off me by the teachers and the same went for today. Today was a little worse, as he went back to refusing to walk into the building and burst into tears in the parking lot. This is so hard for me, as it would be for any mother. We are just not designed to ignore a child who is crying and begging you to comfort him. It is the worst feeling in the world! It should be noted, however, that in the time it took me to put his folder in the bin and sit his backpack and lunch box in their places, he was already over it. I was in the hall for 10 seconds before he stopped crying inside. (he can't see me in the hallway) That is good news...now, if he could just give his mommy a break and stop shattering my heart at every drop-off! ;-)
Colin did finally manage to share some details about school, which was adorable. He sang us a new song over dinner on Tuesday night, which started with "R-E-D red, R-E-D red, I can spell red" and went on about spelling and what objects are red. I was blown away and so proud! This week they are learning about grandparents, the color red, the letter A and the number 1. The teachers wrote in his folder that he is happy and fun all day and that he is a joy. YEA! When he got home, he had woodchips from the playground in his pull-up. I asked him about that and he launched into this story, word for word: "I was throwing woodchips on the playground. Miss Kelli said don't do that, but I did it again. She said Colin, that was the wrong choice. I felt bad, so I sang the clean up song and cleaned the woodchips so that Miss Kelli would not be mad at me. She said that was a good choice and she is not mad at me, either!" Now, how stinking cute is that?!? I just wish I could be a fly on the wall for all of this! He also informed me that he loves "Alexandra and Makenna" and that they let him rescue them on his pretend firetruck and like to play hide-n-seek. Also, Alexandra has "hair like a princess" and "they are my best girls". Good heavens!! I was not expecting two girlfriends by day 3 of preschool! ;-) It brings me so much joy hearing these happy things about school and I love that he is clearly learning a lot from this experience already.
I can't leave out the details from last weekend...my precious niece Pryce celebrated her 1st birthday! ALREADY! Colin and I went to Tyler for the weekend and had a wonderful time. The party was at Mert's house and it was just family. Meredith made THE. BEST. COOKIES. EVER. and I ate 94 of them. Diet be damned. Colin was overjoyed to be with his cousins and spent the whole time following Jackson around and hugging Pryce. On Saturday night, the whole family went to Bruno's (our favorite Italian place) and despite not having a nap and a huge day, Colin was great. This is because he got to sit next to Jackson and feed Pryce crackers. He was in heaven! We all went out for frozen yogurt afterwards and Uncle Cory alternated throwing Jackson and Colin in the air and over his shoulder until they were literally losing their minds with all the fun. It was a great time. After Colin went to bed, I stayed up WAY too late with my mom and sister Alieson watching fashion week on QVC. It was so much fun...we spent 2 hours talking about clothes. :-) Sunday was full of more food and fun and a Cowboys game that I will not even DISCUSS because I am scarred for life from it. On Monday, Colin and I headed for home, but not until we had lunch with my mom at The Potpourri House and stocked up on my favorite candles. It was the perfect trip home! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best niece in the whole world! :-) Here are a few of the pictures...
The birthday girl, Miss Pryce Lucille! How cute is she?! That bow stayed on for 30 seconds. ;-)
Colin and Duke...he loves my daddy!!
Colin giving Pryce her 200th hug of the day...he LOVES HER SO MUCH!
Posing with my sisters...I am going to post about the story behind this silly pose very soon!
Sweet cousins!
Jackson and Colin getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to Pryce.
Last, but not least...Colin spent some time at my mom's office. He LOVED it because she had treats for her students...including that jump rope! :-)
Colin did finally manage to share some details about school, which was adorable. He sang us a new song over dinner on Tuesday night, which started with "R-E-D red, R-E-D red, I can spell red" and went on about spelling and what objects are red. I was blown away and so proud! This week they are learning about grandparents, the color red, the letter A and the number 1. The teachers wrote in his folder that he is happy and fun all day and that he is a joy. YEA! When he got home, he had woodchips from the playground in his pull-up. I asked him about that and he launched into this story, word for word: "I was throwing woodchips on the playground. Miss Kelli said don't do that, but I did it again. She said Colin, that was the wrong choice. I felt bad, so I sang the clean up song and cleaned the woodchips so that Miss Kelli would not be mad at me. She said that was a good choice and she is not mad at me, either!" Now, how stinking cute is that?!? I just wish I could be a fly on the wall for all of this! He also informed me that he loves "Alexandra and Makenna" and that they let him rescue them on his pretend firetruck and like to play hide-n-seek. Also, Alexandra has "hair like a princess" and "they are my best girls". Good heavens!! I was not expecting two girlfriends by day 3 of preschool! ;-) It brings me so much joy hearing these happy things about school and I love that he is clearly learning a lot from this experience already.
I can't leave out the details from last weekend...my precious niece Pryce celebrated her 1st birthday! ALREADY! Colin and I went to Tyler for the weekend and had a wonderful time. The party was at Mert's house and it was just family. Meredith made THE. BEST. COOKIES. EVER. and I ate 94 of them. Diet be damned. Colin was overjoyed to be with his cousins and spent the whole time following Jackson around and hugging Pryce. On Saturday night, the whole family went to Bruno's (our favorite Italian place) and despite not having a nap and a huge day, Colin was great. This is because he got to sit next to Jackson and feed Pryce crackers. He was in heaven! We all went out for frozen yogurt afterwards and Uncle Cory alternated throwing Jackson and Colin in the air and over his shoulder until they were literally losing their minds with all the fun. It was a great time. After Colin went to bed, I stayed up WAY too late with my mom and sister Alieson watching fashion week on QVC. It was so much fun...we spent 2 hours talking about clothes. :-) Sunday was full of more food and fun and a Cowboys game that I will not even DISCUSS because I am scarred for life from it. On Monday, Colin and I headed for home, but not until we had lunch with my mom at The Potpourri House and stocked up on my favorite candles. It was the perfect trip home! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best niece in the whole world! :-) Here are a few of the pictures...
The birthday girl, Miss Pryce Lucille! How cute is she?! That bow stayed on for 30 seconds. ;-)
Colin and Duke...he loves my daddy!!
Colin giving Pryce her 200th hug of the day...he LOVES HER SO MUCH!
Posing with my sisters...I am going to post about the story behind this silly pose very soon!
Sweet cousins!
Jackson and Colin getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to Pryce.
Last, but not least...Colin spent some time at my mom's office. He LOVED it because she had treats for her students...including that jump rope! :-)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Two Days Down...
Day two is over and we SURVIVED THE FIRST WEEK! WHEW!! I am so glad to have that under our belts now! I also want to thank all of you for your comments, both here and on facebook...it has helped SO MUCH to have such good friends that I can lean on!
I won't sugarcoat it, this morning was horrible. Colin started digging in his heels the minute he woke up. He wouldn't even get dressed. I finally had to physically restrain him to get clothes on and then he wouldn't get in the car. He even started arching his back and screaming so that I couldn't buckle his car seat. I was sweating bullets by this point! I had to drag him out of the car and into the school and then he literally attached himself to my body. When we rounded the corner to his classroom, he really started putting on the big show! He was screaming like you have never heard with tears and his nose pouring all over the place. I thought he would surely lose his voice. I tried to pluck him off of me, which ended with him pulling my shirt almost completely off. It was crazy! His teachers had to help me and they physically extracted him from my body, which is when I made a mad dash for the car. It was brutal, but I was prepared for it. Despite the horrible beginning, I still did not get a phone call from the school. I am already getting the picture...Colin pulls it together immediately after I leave. If there was any real problem, I know that they would call me.
While Colin was at school, I went to the dentist. For the first time since he was born, I actually made my appointment the first time without having to reschedule over and over. That is a beautiful thing! I also ran some errands, which felt like heaven on earth. It is amazing how much you appreciate going to Target without a child in tow...it was so great! I came home and even managed to pick up the house! I actually ran the vacuum without having to find Colin's noise blocking head phones first! It was great to be able to get some things done. At 2pm, I went back to get the little man and it went really good. Ms. Kelli said that he was "perfect" today and had absolutely no problems. He even brought home his very first piece of artwork for the fridge! I got a little teary over that one! :-) When I got there, she was weighing him for their stat sheet and before he saw me, Ms. Kelli was holding him in her arms and he was very happy to be there. That brought me more peace than you can imagine. Colin is not quick to let anyone touch him, so to see him that comfortable being loved on by her was a dream come true. She pulled me aside and told me that she loves that he already chants "Miss Kelli!!" over and over when he wants her. She said that he is the only child in the classroom already calling her by name. I am not really shocked by that. haha! She also said, "There is just something about him...I can already tell that he is going to be one of my most special favorites. He just melts me!" How great is that?!?!? I almost kissed her! Now, Colin still told me the whole way home that he does not like school and that they did nothing fun and that he did not have a favorite part of his day because he does not like school at all. That is a direct quote. BUT, there is no way that Colin's teacher is already being "melted" by him unless he is having fun and being his usual sweet self. So I don't believe a word he is saying. ;-) When we first left, I offered to take him for ice cream. He yelled "NO" and sulked in the backseat...but then when we started to pass Blue Cherry, he changed his tune and said he wanted to go. The next thing you know, we are having ice cream together and he is laughing and having fun. So, I consider today a success!
I am absolutely going to start keeping Colin on more of a schedule. That is a great idea (thanks, Shannon!) and I know it will help. He is going to start getting up and dressed every day first thing, even if we don't have anywhere to be. I should have been doing that for a long time, since he thrives on routines. I am also going to get a big calendar over the weekend for him so that I can label the days and what we are doing during the week. It will help him to have a visual of what is going to happen next and that way he knows what to expect. He will be able to see when he has school and when he is home with Mommy and hopefully that will help him with the transitions. We have a long road ahead of us, but I feel good about it. We are going to make it! :-)
I won't sugarcoat it, this morning was horrible. Colin started digging in his heels the minute he woke up. He wouldn't even get dressed. I finally had to physically restrain him to get clothes on and then he wouldn't get in the car. He even started arching his back and screaming so that I couldn't buckle his car seat. I was sweating bullets by this point! I had to drag him out of the car and into the school and then he literally attached himself to my body. When we rounded the corner to his classroom, he really started putting on the big show! He was screaming like you have never heard with tears and his nose pouring all over the place. I thought he would surely lose his voice. I tried to pluck him off of me, which ended with him pulling my shirt almost completely off. It was crazy! His teachers had to help me and they physically extracted him from my body, which is when I made a mad dash for the car. It was brutal, but I was prepared for it. Despite the horrible beginning, I still did not get a phone call from the school. I am already getting the picture...Colin pulls it together immediately after I leave. If there was any real problem, I know that they would call me.
While Colin was at school, I went to the dentist. For the first time since he was born, I actually made my appointment the first time without having to reschedule over and over. That is a beautiful thing! I also ran some errands, which felt like heaven on earth. It is amazing how much you appreciate going to Target without a child in tow...it was so great! I came home and even managed to pick up the house! I actually ran the vacuum without having to find Colin's noise blocking head phones first! It was great to be able to get some things done. At 2pm, I went back to get the little man and it went really good. Ms. Kelli said that he was "perfect" today and had absolutely no problems. He even brought home his very first piece of artwork for the fridge! I got a little teary over that one! :-) When I got there, she was weighing him for their stat sheet and before he saw me, Ms. Kelli was holding him in her arms and he was very happy to be there. That brought me more peace than you can imagine. Colin is not quick to let anyone touch him, so to see him that comfortable being loved on by her was a dream come true. She pulled me aside and told me that she loves that he already chants "Miss Kelli!!" over and over when he wants her. She said that he is the only child in the classroom already calling her by name. I am not really shocked by that. haha! She also said, "There is just something about him...I can already tell that he is going to be one of my most special favorites. He just melts me!" How great is that?!?!? I almost kissed her! Now, Colin still told me the whole way home that he does not like school and that they did nothing fun and that he did not have a favorite part of his day because he does not like school at all. That is a direct quote. BUT, there is no way that Colin's teacher is already being "melted" by him unless he is having fun and being his usual sweet self. So I don't believe a word he is saying. ;-) When we first left, I offered to take him for ice cream. He yelled "NO" and sulked in the backseat...but then when we started to pass Blue Cherry, he changed his tune and said he wanted to go. The next thing you know, we are having ice cream together and he is laughing and having fun. So, I consider today a success!
I am absolutely going to start keeping Colin on more of a schedule. That is a great idea (thanks, Shannon!) and I know it will help. He is going to start getting up and dressed every day first thing, even if we don't have anywhere to be. I should have been doing that for a long time, since he thrives on routines. I am also going to get a big calendar over the weekend for him so that I can label the days and what we are doing during the week. It will help him to have a visual of what is going to happen next and that way he knows what to expect. He will be able to see when he has school and when he is home with Mommy and hopefully that will help him with the transitions. We have a long road ahead of us, but I feel good about it. We are going to make it! :-)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The First Day!
Well, we did it. Colin went to preschool. I still cannot believe it. This whole day has felt like a strange dream! It has been a VERY BIZARRE DAY!
The morning started out crazy, of course. First of all, the first bands of the hurricane moved through and we had a torrential downpour. Second, Colin slept until almost 8:00am. Seriously. The child has NEVER ONCE slept that late. He wakes up between 6 and 6:30. ALWAYS. He could stay up until midnight and wake up at 6am. However, on the first day of school in his whole life, he decides to sleep in. I had to laugh. :-) I went ahead and got up and dressed and made his sandwich before he woke up. Everything was already packed and ready to go, but Colin is a slow mover, so I knew we were going to run behind. He ate a bite of yogurt and banana and then I managed to get him dressed, despite him telling me that he did not want to go. He knew the second he woke up that today was the day and he was nervous for sure. He refused to hold his backpack or even take a picture. He did pack up Peanut and Bear Bear inside his backpack to take with him, which I think helped him feel a bit better. We had promised him that we would have breakfast at the donut shop on the way to school, but it was POURING down rain...to the point that it was coming down sideways! I attempted to suggest that we wait on the donuts, but he immediately flipped out. I ended up running inside the shop and buying him a single chocolate donut to eat in the car. That was not exactly what he had in mind, but it appeased him and kept him calm on the way there. I was soaked down to my bra at this point...awesome. We got to school and went inside and while he was still refusing to be photographed, he did seem to get a little bit excited. Jer was able to go with us and we walked back to Colin's classroom together. When we got there, he ran right inside and seemed to be thrilled at first. That made me feel better; I am glad he really seems to like the room a lot. Everyone has to wash their hands when they first arrive and Colin started to head back with Ms. Gina, until he realized that we were then going to leave. He put up a serious fight at this point. I had to walk into the classroom to get him to wash his hands (which must be done for health code purposes) and he was getting really worked up at this point. As we washed hands he began begging me not to leave him there. I thought I was going to absolutely die. "Please, Mommy! PLEASE!"...it was just as horrible as I thought it would be. UGH! The teacher tried to get his attention with all kinds of cool things, but he just kept yelling "NO!" at her and asking me not to leave. I finally had to just make a run for it, so I said goodbye and walked out. Ms. Kelly had to shut the door to keep him from running after me. I almost ran to the car. There were parents everywhere in the hallways and I felt everything closing in on me. It was not my best moment. This whole scene took less than 5 minutes...I did take their advice and just left instead of lingering. The only way I could do it was to take off running for the car. I cried my eyes out, of course, but once we got home I started to slowly pull it together. I watched the phone for the first two hours just knowing they would have to call me, but nothing happened. I emptied the dishwasher, put up toys and cleaned the living room. I kept myself moving as much as possible...it was SO strange to be in an utterly silent house. I finally sat down on the couch and informed Jer that it was the strangest moment of all time. Once the first couple of hours passed, I finally started to calm down. I took a shower and got dressed. Jer and I went to lunch together, just the two of us! That part was wonderful. He even took me to look at the kittens at PetsMart afterwards. :-) I realized that the day was almost done and the teachers had never called me...Colin was going to make it!
We headed back to pick Colin up at 2pm. The rain is still falling in sheets, but this time I remembered my rain boots. ;-) I was a nervous wreck walking back to the classroom...I could barely hear over my own heartbeat! We rounded the corner and Ms. Kelly spotted us. She said, "Colin! Look who is here!" We peeked in the half-door and there was Colin, sitting with several boys and playing with a puzzle toy. He was clearly LOVING this toy, because he looked up at me and smiled...but KEPT PLAYING! He didn't even get up! I was close to hysterical laughing at this point, the kind of laughter that can only come from a woman about to lose her ever loving mind. ;-) He seriously would NOT leave. He even told me that he did not want to go! Unreal. This allowed me to talk to his teacher for a bit. I found out that he had been very good, but had also behaved very true to form. He did not want to sit in a circle with the other kids for "circle time" and also did not want to sit down with the other kids at the table for a snack or lunch. He apparently also had a pretty big meltdown when Ms. Gina asked if he wanted to use the potty. Yeah...potty training will be taking a back seat for just a bit, I think. He got upset a few times over where I was, but managed to shake it off. The other good news is that even though it took some time and energy, the teachers did manage to get Colin to do what he was supposed to. They got him to sit in the circle and also got him to sit down at the table during lunch. Now, I don't know how long he actually sat, but he did eventually do it. That is great news! I think it shows a lot of promise that he stayed all day long without completely freaking out. That was all I could hope for from his first day!
We finally managed to get him to leave the class and it was quickly evident that he was mad at me. I don't know why, but I had not thought of this turn of events ahead of time. It actually never crossed my mind, but Colin was furious with me. He would not hold my hand or touch me and was actually scowling during the entire walk to the car. We asked him all kinds of questions about his day, and his answers were:
Colin just entering the school. This was the closest that I got to a grin. ;-)
Not a happy moment. While we washed hands, he was begging me not to leave him!
What a difference a few hours makes! This was our view when we came to pick him up! Playing with friends!
Please note that face...no smiles for me today! However, I am so happy that he already made friends!
On the way to the car and not letting me touch him. YIKES! ;-)
Jer ran ahead and tried to get a picture. We were talking about him not having enough lunch! Goodness! He is not a happy camper...but he was a very brave boy and I am very proud of him!
The morning started out crazy, of course. First of all, the first bands of the hurricane moved through and we had a torrential downpour. Second, Colin slept until almost 8:00am. Seriously. The child has NEVER ONCE slept that late. He wakes up between 6 and 6:30. ALWAYS. He could stay up until midnight and wake up at 6am. However, on the first day of school in his whole life, he decides to sleep in. I had to laugh. :-) I went ahead and got up and dressed and made his sandwich before he woke up. Everything was already packed and ready to go, but Colin is a slow mover, so I knew we were going to run behind. He ate a bite of yogurt and banana and then I managed to get him dressed, despite him telling me that he did not want to go. He knew the second he woke up that today was the day and he was nervous for sure. He refused to hold his backpack or even take a picture. He did pack up Peanut and Bear Bear inside his backpack to take with him, which I think helped him feel a bit better. We had promised him that we would have breakfast at the donut shop on the way to school, but it was POURING down rain...to the point that it was coming down sideways! I attempted to suggest that we wait on the donuts, but he immediately flipped out. I ended up running inside the shop and buying him a single chocolate donut to eat in the car. That was not exactly what he had in mind, but it appeased him and kept him calm on the way there. I was soaked down to my bra at this point...awesome. We got to school and went inside and while he was still refusing to be photographed, he did seem to get a little bit excited. Jer was able to go with us and we walked back to Colin's classroom together. When we got there, he ran right inside and seemed to be thrilled at first. That made me feel better; I am glad he really seems to like the room a lot. Everyone has to wash their hands when they first arrive and Colin started to head back with Ms. Gina, until he realized that we were then going to leave. He put up a serious fight at this point. I had to walk into the classroom to get him to wash his hands (which must be done for health code purposes) and he was getting really worked up at this point. As we washed hands he began begging me not to leave him there. I thought I was going to absolutely die. "Please, Mommy! PLEASE!"...it was just as horrible as I thought it would be. UGH! The teacher tried to get his attention with all kinds of cool things, but he just kept yelling "NO!" at her and asking me not to leave. I finally had to just make a run for it, so I said goodbye and walked out. Ms. Kelly had to shut the door to keep him from running after me. I almost ran to the car. There were parents everywhere in the hallways and I felt everything closing in on me. It was not my best moment. This whole scene took less than 5 minutes...I did take their advice and just left instead of lingering. The only way I could do it was to take off running for the car. I cried my eyes out, of course, but once we got home I started to slowly pull it together. I watched the phone for the first two hours just knowing they would have to call me, but nothing happened. I emptied the dishwasher, put up toys and cleaned the living room. I kept myself moving as much as possible...it was SO strange to be in an utterly silent house. I finally sat down on the couch and informed Jer that it was the strangest moment of all time. Once the first couple of hours passed, I finally started to calm down. I took a shower and got dressed. Jer and I went to lunch together, just the two of us! That part was wonderful. He even took me to look at the kittens at PetsMart afterwards. :-) I realized that the day was almost done and the teachers had never called me...Colin was going to make it!
We headed back to pick Colin up at 2pm. The rain is still falling in sheets, but this time I remembered my rain boots. ;-) I was a nervous wreck walking back to the classroom...I could barely hear over my own heartbeat! We rounded the corner and Ms. Kelly spotted us. She said, "Colin! Look who is here!" We peeked in the half-door and there was Colin, sitting with several boys and playing with a puzzle toy. He was clearly LOVING this toy, because he looked up at me and smiled...but KEPT PLAYING! He didn't even get up! I was close to hysterical laughing at this point, the kind of laughter that can only come from a woman about to lose her ever loving mind. ;-) He seriously would NOT leave. He even told me that he did not want to go! Unreal. This allowed me to talk to his teacher for a bit. I found out that he had been very good, but had also behaved very true to form. He did not want to sit in a circle with the other kids for "circle time" and also did not want to sit down with the other kids at the table for a snack or lunch. He apparently also had a pretty big meltdown when Ms. Gina asked if he wanted to use the potty. Yeah...potty training will be taking a back seat for just a bit, I think. He got upset a few times over where I was, but managed to shake it off. The other good news is that even though it took some time and energy, the teachers did manage to get Colin to do what he was supposed to. They got him to sit in the circle and also got him to sit down at the table during lunch. Now, I don't know how long he actually sat, but he did eventually do it. That is great news! I think it shows a lot of promise that he stayed all day long without completely freaking out. That was all I could hope for from his first day!
We finally managed to get him to leave the class and it was quickly evident that he was mad at me. I don't know why, but I had not thought of this turn of events ahead of time. It actually never crossed my mind, but Colin was furious with me. He would not hold my hand or touch me and was actually scowling during the entire walk to the car. We asked him all kinds of questions about his day, and his answers were:
I don't like school. I don't like my teachers. They didn't haveIt was not great. I saw that he was playing peacefully when we arrived, but he would admit to nothing happy. Granted, he was not smiling and was not his normal self, but he was clearly fine. I know that he must have had fun at some point! He was just too mad at me to admit to any of it. I have never truly had anger directed at me from him and it was hard to handle. My emotions today have been so insane and all over the map. When I walked up to find him playing and not wanting to leave, I was giddy with happiness. Then to see that he was deeply angry with me and hurt...that had me almost in tears again by the time we got to the car. What a day!! We were home for more than an hour before he would even let me sit beside him. He would only let "Daddy" get his juice or snack for him. I have never seen him that way before. It surprised me that he was not mad at Jer, despite the fact that he was there for both drop-off and pick-up. In his mind, I am the one who abandoned him. That is tough! He finally shook things off just a little bit ago and even managed to admit over dinner that Ms. Gina told a Barney story that he liked. One positive thing! YES! I was very happy to hear it. I sure am glad that we went ahead and started this now instead of waiting any longer. Hopefully he will be an old pro by the time kindergarten comes around! Thursday is going to be BAD. I have heard from lots of people that the second day is harder...and I can see that he is going to put up one heck of a fight when he realizes that he really does have to go back. The teachers were so sweet and I really think that everything is going to be fine! We just have to tie a knot in our rope and hang on until this tough part is past us. I can do it! Here are the only pictures we got of the day. I hope we can do better on Thursday and maybe get a smile!
balls. They didn't have paint. They wouldn't let me use my nap mat.
(what the heck?) I don't want to go back there. I didn't have enough to eat. I wanted you to come back.
Colin just entering the school. This was the closest that I got to a grin. ;-)
Me trying to convince Colin to wash his hands. That is Ms. Gina. She is wonderful!
Not a happy moment. While we washed hands, he was begging me not to leave him!
What a difference a few hours makes! This was our view when we came to pick him up! Playing with friends!
Please note that face...no smiles for me today! However, I am so happy that he already made friends!
On the way to the car and not letting me touch him. YIKES! ;-)
Jer ran ahead and tried to get a picture. We were talking about him not having enough lunch! Goodness! He is not a happy camper...but he was a very brave boy and I am very proud of him!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Let the Countdown to Tuesday Begin!
We made it through preschool open house! Colin and I took this picture as Daddy was leaving for work and we were heading over to the school. The whole thing went surprisingly well and while I am still absolutely freaking out about it, I think I might live. :-) When we pulled into the parking lot, Colin announced "There is MY SCHOOL!" and actually sounded happy about it. We parked and headed inside with a sea of other people, which made my palms start to sweat. The first part of the morning was a brief assembly in the auditorium and it took Colin about 10 minutes of walking around in the very back with me assuring him that he would be fine before he would go sit with me in the crowd. Once we sat down, he immediately made friends with the two little girls sitting in front of and behind us. It was love at first sight because both girls responded to his knock knock jokes and agreed to play "I Spy". He was having so much fun that I heard absolutely nothing that was said in the assembly. Let's hope it was not important information. The assembly started and ended with a prayer, during which Colin yelled "Mommy! Am I bowing my head? LOOK AT ME! Am I doing it? Where is God? Is he here? AMEN!!!!". It was a beautiful thing. ;-)After the assembly, we headed to his classroom and met his new teachers, Ms. Gina and Ms. Kelli. They were both very nice and seemed excited. Colin loved the classroom and managed not to have any meltdowns while we were saying hello to all the kids and parents. It was a chaotic atmosphere, so I did not really have a chance to ask a lot of questions with the teachers. I found out when to show up and what to bring and Colin was well behaved. I briefly broached the subject of Colin's sensitivities with them and they both gave me the smiles and nods that you would expect from women used to dealing with mothers dropping off their kids for the first time. You could tell that they were basically dismissing my worries as nervous mom stuff, but I can't blame them at all. I am sure they get lots of speeches from worry wart mothers and they don't know me from Adam yet. They will have first hand knowledge of Colin soon enough and we can touch base again in a less chaotic environment than the open house. They did reaffirm that the best idea was to just drop Colin off and walk right out the door and that is exactly what I am going to do. Colin is going to flip out, but I know that me staying won't solve the problem one bit. They said that they never have to call parents back to get the child, but they certainly won't hesitate to do so if the need arises. That works for me! Like every mother on the planet, I will be absolutely devastated when I leave there with Colin screaming for me. I have already decided to take myself straight over for a coffee and pedicure immediately after I leave. I am hoping that giving myself a small treat will make me feel better and also keep me from parking my butt in the hallway and watching the whole day from the corner of the window! I wish I knew someone with a supply of Xanax...I think I might need one on Tuesday. ;-)
Colin warmed up to the school very quickly and I still believe in my heart that he is going to love this place. It is the most beautiful church and the whole school area is bright and cheerful. It seems like the perfect fit. I also found out while we were there that Colin can move into the twice weekly program. Originally they did not have room, so we went ahead with the one day plan. They made room for him and I am going to take them up on the offer, at least to start off. I think going every Tuesday and Thursday in the beginning will help him acclimate and warm up to the idea much faster than going on Mondays alone. There is just too much time between the once a week class and I know it will take him ages to get used to that. I plan to take him on Tuesday and Thursday instead, at least for the first month. At that point, we will re-evaluate and see what we think. So here is to Labor Day Weekend...our last one before Colin is an official preschooler! :-)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Preschool Prep
Tomorrow morning is the open house at Colin's preschool. I am excited and OH SO NERVOUS! We go from 9 -11:30am, with an assembly first and then breaking up into classrooms to meet the teachers and get a lay of the land. Tomorrow is an important day...if things go good, dropping him off for his first day next week will be a lot easier. If anything goes wrong...well, let's just pray that it doesn't! My prayer is that things are not too loud or overwhelming tomorrow and that his class is full of quiet children. (Yes, I realize that the exact opposite will happen!) :-) Colin has his lunchbox, backpack and fireman nap mat all ready to go and I literally cannot fathom that I am going to drop him off at preschool next week! It feels a little like the twilight zone. This boy was a newborn baby literally 5 minutes ago. I knew this day would come, but it feels so strange to imagine him in a classroom environment already, even if it is just one day a week. I am stressed out by the unknown in all of this and how Colin will handle a change this drastic with his sensory stuff, but I also have this feeling deep down in my gut that he is going to love it. There will be new things to learn and he is such a sponge these days...I think he will be blown away by how much fun it is, as long as we can get past the initial upset that is inevitable with a change this big.
The last time I left Colin somewhere was the day I quit work when he was 6 months old. With the exception of the occasional drop-off at his grandparents house (and even that is rare), he has not been dropped off anywhere. I don't know how long it will take him to adjust to this, so I am beyond anxious to get the first day here so that I can just know what I am dealing with. He will not even entertain the idea of being left at school and any time I bring it up, he says that I have to stay with him. Since he has no idea what preschool will really be like, I am hoping that he quickly sees that everything is fine and that I will be back. I am also wondering how long the teachers will let him cry before they make me come back and get him. :-) I'm REALLY wondering what it will feel like to be without a child from 9am to 2pm on Mondays! I have these visions of a clean house, laundry folded and put away, dinner done and my eyebrows properly waxed. I imagine what it will feel like to grocery shop by myself on Mondays and not have to purchase $15 worth of extras to keep Colin quiet and in the cart. I picture picking out my own library book and making a fall centerpiece for the kitchen table. I just don't know what I will do with 5 whole hours to myself once a week. It sounds decadent in the extreme. Heck, I might even paint my toenails! How about that! :-)
The last time I left Colin somewhere was the day I quit work when he was 6 months old. With the exception of the occasional drop-off at his grandparents house (and even that is rare), he has not been dropped off anywhere. I don't know how long it will take him to adjust to this, so I am beyond anxious to get the first day here so that I can just know what I am dealing with. He will not even entertain the idea of being left at school and any time I bring it up, he says that I have to stay with him. Since he has no idea what preschool will really be like, I am hoping that he quickly sees that everything is fine and that I will be back. I am also wondering how long the teachers will let him cry before they make me come back and get him. :-) I'm REALLY wondering what it will feel like to be without a child from 9am to 2pm on Mondays! I have these visions of a clean house, laundry folded and put away, dinner done and my eyebrows properly waxed. I imagine what it will feel like to grocery shop by myself on Mondays and not have to purchase $15 worth of extras to keep Colin quiet and in the cart. I picture picking out my own library book and making a fall centerpiece for the kitchen table. I just don't know what I will do with 5 whole hours to myself once a week. It sounds decadent in the extreme. Heck, I might even paint my toenails! How about that! :-)
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