The Support Team
Noah was looking at the playground. Where would rather be than there taking thousands of pictures with his mom.
This is my favorite picture of my sweet baby boy. He looks so grown up!
Noah is so proud of his cubby!
Mrs. Badman showing Noah his new seat and crayons.
He told her that he doesn't know how to draw and she said, "That's ok as long as you try!" Good answer.
This is right before the melt down. So we will stop here and pretend that is how it ended.
Well, on second thought- I am a terrible liar and that is not how it ended. I said goodbye, he cried and latched on to me like a koala bear. The teacher ripped him outta my arms and I left crying. That is the real ending.
But, I made it.
Barely.
But, as Noah would say... HALLELLOOLA! I made it.
Day one of Preschool is officially over.
So since I survived this milestone, I am doing what any self-respecting American citizen would do in my situation- I am assuming that I am now an expert in this field and making an "Emergency First Day of School Survival" Checklist. These are the things that I learned from going through this experience for the first time. Hopefully over the years I will be able to add to this list. And hopefully this will be of help to someone that goes through this in the future.
1.) With the help of your new little student, make something for the teacher. Noah and I made Apple Cakepop bouquets for his new PreK teacher, principal, and school secretary. Looking back, this was waaayyyy too ambitious of a project to take on at this stressful time in my life. I am glad that we did it, but in the future I think I will just help him make her a sweet card or bake her some easy cookies. We gave them their gifts at Open House but you could also take the gifts on the first day of school, or really any day thereafter. I think this is a good way to get your child excited about meeting/seeing the teacher and gives them something positive to focus on. If your child is still struggling after the first day, it's not too late to try this technique. Noah loved it.
2.) Do as much as you can think of to get prepared BEFORE the morning of the first day of school. AND, let your child be a part of this process. Noah and I spent a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon getting him ready for the week. We shopped for school lunch items, gathered and ironed his uniforms, and got his backpack organized.
3.) Make your child a checklist of things that they have to do every morning.
Last night I made Noah a checklist of things to do when he wakes up in the morning. Now I know what you are thinking- "this poor child can't even read yet and she's already forcing her frantic, compulsive list-making obsession on his impressionable little mind," but it did help to keep him on track. Anytime he would get distracted (which was approximately every 67 seconds- "Hey Mom, look at what I found under the fridge!",) I would lead him to the checklist and tell him what to do next. It worked. Plus I put cupcake stickers on it and that made him smile. Cause who doesn't love cupcake stickers?
4.) Lunch! Let them help you make their lunch for the next day! They can pick out their snacks, make their sandwich, and even make their little sister's lunch.
5.) Take lots of pictures at open house! I couldn't wait to take millions of pictures of Noah's first day of school, but the truth is that it went by at lightning speed, was incredibly emotional, and basically just chaotic. I am so glad that I took lots of pictures at Open House the other day because I was waaayyyy too emotional and scatterbrained to get any good ones today.
6.) Make a breakfast station where your child can go and grab what they want for breakfast without getting distracted by all of the other items in the pantry (in our house this would consist of thousands of boxes of baked goods and 157 bags of chocolate.) Breakfast is a new thing on our list because I am used to packing his breakfast to eat at TT's house after I drop him off every morning. Now breakfast is important because Noah won't get to eat anything except a small snack until lunch time. I let him pick out a couple of different cereals and granola bars to keep together on the counter during the week so that he can quickly grab something to eat either on the way to school or while I am getting Annabella dressed.
These are just a few things that really helped me out this morning. I was on an emotional roller coaster and my brain was only working at half speed. Let's be honest, I have no idea what I am talking about since I am new at this whole "school mom" thing. But this is what I learned and I just thought I would share it.
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