Lauren's First Day of Pre-School!!

Pre-School - Daytime Playtime, Haymarket, Va
Days - Tuesday am & Thursday am
Age - 4.5 years
Teacher - Miss Michelle
What Lauren Wants to Be When She Grows Up - A Pet Vet!


Well, summer quickly came to an end and it was time for Lauren to start Pre-School at Daytime Playtime.  We had talked to her a lot about school, her classroom, and her teachers throughout the summer, and she finally seemed ready to start.

On September 2nd, we had her orientation.  Chad and I took her to the school to meet her teacher, see her classroom, and check out all of the play areas.  She handled that well and we all looked forward to her first day.

This morning, we woke her up, got her dressed, gave her breakfast, and showed her the Kinder Cone I put together.  A Kinder Cone is a back to school tradition in Germany, where the children all received these cones on their first day of school.  They were filled with little gifts, school supplies, and sweets.  I remember having a Kinder Cone, when I was growing up in Germany, and I was excited to continue that tradition with my kids.

                   

We let her take a look a the cone this morning, but she had to wait until after school to open it.  That would give her something to look forward to and we didn't want her to become too distracted with the things inside the cone, right before heading off to school.

We headed outside to take some photos, Lauren grabbed her Minion backpack (she picked it out all by herself during our back to school shopping trip) and then piled in the car.

We arrived at school really early.  I was not sure what the school traffic would be like, I wanted to see how crowded the parking lot got, and we didn't know when the kids would be allowed to go in to their classrooms.  Soon all of the kids and their parents arrived and gathered outside the school's entrance.

                   

When it came time to go inside, Lauren grabbed my hand and we walked to her classroom.  She was the first kid to arrive and her teacher, Miss Michelle, greeted her with a big smile.  They hung up her backpack and soon other kids arrived.  Chad and I gave her a big kiss and said goodbye.  She barely looked up and was so engrossed with the classroom that she did not notice us leave.  There definitely were no tears!!  

Chad went on to work, while Charlie and I spent a quiet morning at home.  It felt very weird without Lauren there, but Charlie did not seem to mind.  And I have to admit, it was nice having some one on one time with my little guy!

Soon, it was time to pick Lauren up, and we headed back to the school.  She was sitting patiently in the classroom, and jumped up with a huge smile on her face, as soon as she saw us.  I asked how her day was and she told me that she had the best time.  And she could not wait to tell me all about snack time and the jumping room!  When I asked if she wanted to come back, she shouted "YES"!  =)

We met Chad for lunch, at Panera, and Lauren got to open her cone.  She enjoyed all of her treats and school supplies.  But it was obvious that we needed to finish up lunch, because Lauren was getting very tired.  As soon as we got home, she walked to her room, got into a pull up and was in bed.  I didn't have to help her or remind her to go to bed.  She was THAT tired.

The first day was a success.  Lauren had a great time and she was exhausted from all of the excitement.  We couldn't ask for a better "first day of school" experience, and I can't wait to see what the next class brings!!