Just A Little More About Preschool

One thing they don't tell you about sending your kids off to preschool is how stinkin' weird it feels.  I mean, I guess if I worked outside the home and my kids had been going to daycare for years it wouldn't feel weird, but they have been with me 24/7 since they were born with very few exceptions.  Our lives are wrapped up with each other, and now, there's three hours a day they have without me and me without them.

There's something weird about having my 3 and 4 year old having their own life, even in this small way.  They know people I don't know, do stuff I don't do, it's weird, it feels weird and emotionally unsettling, raw. 

That was the biggest problem I had when Cam was deployed to Afghanistan, too, when I'd look at the sink in the bathroom and see only one tooth brush sitting there, and realize he was living a life apart from me, and I was living one away from him.

I just wish my kids could communicate a little clearer, so they could just tell me what they do during those 3 hours.  Not that I think anything bad is going on, I just want to know details, you know?The good news is, after only 2 full days so far, there's already progress.  Last night, at dinner, they sat down with us and ate everything on their plate, even though they didn't really like it much.  That's kind of a miracle, they don't usually have patience for dinner because they don't like most cooked food (not even mac and cheese), they'll eat two bites and say they are done, and if we want them to eat the full meal we usually have to spend an hour coaxing and threatening and bribing and even spoon feeding to get it all in them.  I was pleasantly surprised, to put it mildly.  

Their school had them scheduled to eat breakfast there, but after Monday they asked if they could do breakfast and lunch so they could work on it with them.  It's really nice to have them going to a place that pays attention enough to see the same problems I see and be able to work on it with them in a way that actually helps.  It's a relief, really.

I guess the long and the short of it is, this feels weird, but I think it's good.  Maybe in a week or two I'll get used to it.  I'm also super excited that I can call and make a dentist appointment and actually have a time I can go in, by myself.  I love my kids, but I'm starting to appreciate kid-less time.  Now, I'm going to go fold a load of laundry without my kids playing in it, which is the stay-at-home-mom equivalent to Heaven on Earth.

PS Happy Reformation Day, everyone!  We're going to celebrate by dressing up as a Princess and a Dark Knight and asking people for candy.  I know, I know, that sounds like Halloween, but it's not.  Haha.