DATE ARCHIVES : September 2012

Who’s Crying Now?

   Who knew pre-school could be so tough? I mean we didn’t have to take any SAT’s, we didn’t have a summer reading list, yet, this has been one rocky road to the sandbox. I thought it would be a piece of cake, but as I’ve written before, it’s been pretty sucky. Alas, there is light at the end of the juice box. Ladies and gentlemen, she has stopped crying! After two weeks of puppy dog eyes and quivering lips, not one tear is being shed anymore these days…by her. Yeah, that’s right, guess who’s crying now?

   I’m not saying I want to see my daughter sad when I leave her, but there is something deep down that says, “wow, she loves me that much that she’s so upset for leaving me for just a couple of hours.” Although I stressed about it and wondered why she was the only one crying, it made me know just how much I meant to her. It may sound stupid, but it’s the truth. But, as a mom, I know she needs to separate and spread her little wings, even if it’s just at pre-school. Plus, I was also starting to get frustrated that she was the only kid there crying.

   Fast forward two weeks and I just about get a kiss goodbye. Once the crayons and markers come out, it’s peace out mom, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, if you know what I mean.  As I walk down the hallway, I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. I’m the one who’s sad now. See, with her being so upset in the beginning, I never had the chance to feel sad myself because I was so worried about her. But, now that I know she’s drawing and singing her days away, I guess it’s my turn. At least she says she misses me when I pick her up. So for now, I’ll take that. I know there will come a day (soon) when she won’t and then I’ll really be crying.

OMG…I S-p-e-l-l Everything Now

   I know you’ve heard the saying “kids are like sponges”. Well, I think they’re more like Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. I am quickly learning nothing gets past them. These days we’ve resorted to spelling things out so my three year-old can’t pick up on what’s really going on. Boy, are we d-u-m-b! One day I thought I was being s-m-a-r-t by not actually saying the words ice cream. Well, I didn’t even get to the second “c” when she shouted “ice cream!” It was pretty funny. Annoying, but funny. Another time I didn’t want to say the word “pee”, well stupidly I started spelling the word, forgetting what the first letter was. Yeah, I was really a dumb a-s-fill in the last letter!

   Not only is it annoying that she can pick up what we are trying not to say, but now we also have to remember how to spell. What a p-a-i-n! I love when I’m talking to my husband and I have to spell every other w-o-r-d. Let’s just say he looks at me like I have two h-e-a-d-s. With all this spelling I am doing, maybe I can go enter some kind of adult spelling bee. Guaranteed it would be filled with a bunch of parents who are in the same boat. Well, them and people who are actually good at s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g.

  While spelling is all fine and good, there are times when you just have to substitute another word for what you really want to say.No fudging around here. Shut the front door, I know you know what I’m talking about. The funny thing is after saying it so much, you can actually forget how to swear. I know it may sound weird, but I sludge you not. It’s the truth.

   I know I’m in deep doodoo when my daughter can actually start to form words with her letters. Then, I really really have to be careful what I say. Until then, I’ll be training for the spelling bee and telling people to shut their front doors.

Surviving Pre-K

   They said it was going to happen and it did. Boy, did it happen. I’m talking about the tears on the first day of Pre-K. I’m not even talking about myself. I’m talking about my daughter. Yep, we were that family the first day of school.

   It’s a real shame, because it seemed so promising. My daughter was sooo excited about school. We even had a discussion about how Mommy and Daddy couldn’t stay and how she was going to make all new friends. She seemed okay with it all. She wasn’t. The excitement level disappeared and turned into sheer panic as soon as we motioned towards the door. The tears started and they did not stop. I mean they did not stop!
My heart broke into one-thousand little pieces. She was so upset. I was upset too. I really thought we had this thing in the bag. I couldn’t have been more wrong!

   After seeing how upset she was, I really didn’t know what to do. I looked around. No other kids were crying. No other parents were staying like they said we all could that day. I truthfully was waiting for another kid to crack. Nope. No other tears. Against my better judgement, I stayed. I was able to calm her down with the help of some Dora toys. Gracias Dora, I owe you one. Then I “went to the bathroom” and escaped until the shortened day was over. I could hear her ask for me a couple of times. But, she was also starting to play with the other kids and teachers. Thank God!

   When it was time to leave she seemed okay. She said she had fun, so I thought we were golden for day two. Once again, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I went in bribing her with pizza if she stayed without crying. Once again, everything was great until I said that dreaded word…bye. The eyes got watery. Then she told me she didn’t want pizza and wanted to go home! Okay, so I totally wasn’t expecting that one. I told her that wasn’t an option. But, she wasn’t buying what I was selling. After a couple of minutes of crying, the teacher told me to run for the border. She told me to just rip the band-aid. So, I did. I left me child sobbing as I walked down the hallway feeling like the worst mother in the world.

   Truthfully, I expected to get a call from the teacher at any moment telling me to come back and calm her down. But, after an hour passed without a call. I figured I was in the clear. But, I still felt like crap. I had planned to do so many things with just one child in tow. The weird thing was I felt lost. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t stop thinking about her and what she was doing. Was she still crying? Was she having fun? Was she making friends? I was driving myself crazy. So, I thought about what would make me happy. The answer was simple…retail therapy and caffeine. I have to admit it did help!

   When I arrived to pick her up, I was expecting to find a miserable little girl who was so mad at me for leaving her with strangers. Instead, I found a little girl who was so excited to show me her little project and tell me everything she did. She was so happy! And, guess what? She wanted her pizza too! Score 1 for Mom and Pre-K (atleast for now)!