coffee mugs & ginger hugs: Starting Preschool

Ok, so she's not exactly going "back to school", but this time next week, I will be the mama of a preschooler (WHAT?!). Isla will be 3 in October, so about a month ago, Devin & I started looking into some potential preschools for her. A lot of the schools we were looking at had multiple preschool programs, for 2-3 year olds, and 3-4 year olds. We weren't entirely sure where she would fit in best -- but we agreed she would probably be better off in the 3-4 classroom, as opposed to with the 2-3 year olds, where a good amount of time is spent focusing on potty training (she's been potty trained for quite some time now-- minus when she is sleeping! Still a bit of a struggle during naps & bedtime, but she's been making some promising progress as of late-- fingers crossed!). We didn't know if we wanted to start her in August like a "traditional school year", or wait until she is actually 3 and maybe start her in January. We decided to tour a few preschools to see what we thought & we happened to find one we loved.

The teachers were super nice, the school was clean & organized, we liked the curriculum (Devin works in Special Education & is currently working towards his Masters in Education Administration, so he knows more about this than I do!), & Isla seemed to love it. She kept asking, "Can I go play?". After we saw the whole school, we let her venture off a little bit (with the teachers permission, of course). She grabbed a bucket of little rubber animals, & with no prompting whatsoever, took them out, started sorting them by animal, was telling us what color they were, and the sounds they made. The teacher then asked if she was potty trained, and when we said yes she said, "Yeah, I wouldn't really worry about her not being 3 quite yet, I think she would do great in the 3-4 class, she is definitely ready for preschool!" (Proud mama moment!) We hadn't mentioned our thoughts on the topic of which program would be best yet, she only knew she would be turning 3 in October, so it was kind of awesome to see her opinion correlate with ours. Added bonus--the tuition for the 3-4 class is cheaper since potty training isn't involved-- can't complain about that!

So, with that, we decided we would enroll her in the 3-4 program starting at the end of August. She will go twice a week, for 3.5 hours a day. I'd be lying if I said I am not having a minor heart attack when I think about her starting preschool, but I am also excited for her! We have done some Mommy & Me type classes in the past, and she goes to gymnastics weekly-- she loves interacting with kids her age & also loves learning new things, so I think she will be thrilled. On the other hand, she hasn't really been left alone without me or a relative she sees frequently, so that aspect will be interesting.

When I was pregnant with Weston, while I was so excited and we always planned to have two kids and wanted a sibling for Isla to grow up with, I couldn't help but think, "Aw, she has to share her mommy now!". I never thought about the fact that little Weston would have to share his mama from the get-go, so I am looking forward to some quality one-on-one, undivided attention time with my mini man, which is a rarity in our daily life.

We already purchased her "first day of school" outfit, and will be going out this weekend to let her pick a backpack & such, which she is pretty excited about! I thought it would be cute to make something like this for her teacher.. but I'm thinking I probably won't get to it before her first day. Now, I'm thinking it could be cute for a Christmas gift--filled with candy? We will see!

While I am definitely nervous, I am so thrilled for her to start preschool-- & also can't believe she is already old enough to start..where does the time go? This sums it up pretty perfectly.

I can't wait to see her learn new things & watching her little personality develop even further with this big change in her little life. As I fight back the tears, check out some cute kiddo pictures from this week so far (heaven knows I take about 1 million [conservatively] on the daily!)