Preschool Update

Claire has been in preschool for over a month now! I knew she would have a hard time separating from me. She was in day care for about five months when I worked to get another mat leave. She cried all day, every day for almost the entire five months. It was really hard on both her and I, and left both of us a little traumatized. Her teachers were really good, but Claire was only 18 months old. She just wasn't ready yet. Fast forward to my almost three year old, and I can't believe how far we've come.


When we talk about preschool, she gets very excited and will even ask to go on non preschool days, but when we walk into the building, the tears start flowing. She's started saying she needs to go pee when we get there, which I know is a stalling tactic because she has just peed before we left the house. I'm not quite sure how to handle that one. She will just sit on the toilet, but not actually pee. When I tell her it's time to go to her class, she says, "I'm not ready yet".


Once we get into her class, I try to make it pretty quick. She's usually clinging to me, and the teacher has to pry her away from me. She has attached herself to one teacher in particular which was helping, but that teacher has been away for over a week now. I was pretty impressed with her teachers because they anticipated Claire missing her favourite teacher, so they arranged for me to drop Claire off in the second class with the other teacher, picking up on the fact that Claire does better when it's quieter, and less people around.


This morning when I passed her off, she went willingly, instead of clinging to me. I heard her say to her teacher, "I'm sad". As I walked out of the school, I peaked in on her through the window, and she was already happy and playing. I almost think the tears are more of a habit than anything.


So, even though the drop offs are hard, they are getting better, and the fact that she stops crying right away, and enjoys herself is huge! She always comes home with lots of crafts, and singing new songs. I really like her teachers too. I can't wait for the day where there are no tears at drop off. That will be a big milestone for her.