Straight from the Storks Nest: S is for School

Last week marked another major milestone for Caitlyn. Her transition to big girl continues as she started preschool. Brian and I definitely had mixed emotions. He is worried she'll be too shy like he was as a kid, and I was less worried and more sad to be letting her go even just a little bit. She's been my partner in crime every day since she was born and I know that this is just the beginning of starting to let go.

We've been reading her books about school and talking to her about it for weeks so we were hoping she was somewhat prepared. Brian even took off from work so he could be there for her big day. The morning of, she woke up super cranky. That crankiness was only tempered by being able to finally wear the "princess" shirt I bought for her first day at school. She has been asking to wear it every day for over a month! We got her all ready, at least as much as we could since she refused to eat any breakfast. I tried to get the requisite picture of her with her new backpack, but she absolutely refuses to wear it. She was, however, super excited to carry her lunchbox.

We got everyone packed in the car and headed off to school. When we got there she was very unsure of the whole situation and I think the fact that Brian was there kind of threw her for a loop. We walked her into class and got her to sit down with some toys but as soon as we said goodbye she started crying and tried grabbing for Brian's shoes as we walked towards the door. It was completely heartbreaking. She was whisked away by her teacher and as Brian and I held back tears of our own, we were able to peek in one last time and see that she had stopped crying. That made us feel slightly better, but it was brutal nonetheless. It was definitely lonely without her, but with the twins sleeping most of the time I was able to actually get a few things accomplished around the house!

When I went to pick her up she was ecstatic to see me. She hadn't really eaten anything for lunch and she didn't take a nap but she clearly had survived unscathed. Her teachers said she was very quiet and observant, but we expected that. Now that she knew what she was getting into, I was fully prepared for a major meltdown the second day but as I dropped her off and said goodbye amid the other kids already wailing she just kind of looked around like, what's all the fuss about and didn't shed one tear. I watched for a few minutes in the window and was relieved to see that she seemed to be settling in. I know Caitlyn will do great and love school, now Mommy and Daddy just need to get over it!