Trying not to take it personally

Jessa loves school. It is hard to believe that she is the same kid who used to cry and scream, "Momma, PLEASE DON"T LEAVE ME!" at her Parent's Day Out Program in 2006. She was 2 and a half and had never been away from me. It was HARD on both of us. When I went into wake her up two days a week, she would immediately say, "Where am I going? I don't want to go to school!" I would cry all the way home from dropping her off. I felt awful! Yet when I went to pick her up each day, she was glad to see me and seemed happy. And the teachers all swore that she was fine within minutes of my leaving, so we kept at it. AND after a while, she was happy to go school.

AUGUST 2006 -shy first day

Her second year in PDO, she LOVED it. She had more confidence because she knew the ropes, you know? And she looked forward to going each day.

AUGUST 2007 - get out of my way

Spencer likes school. After the severe trauma and drama that we went through with Miss Jessa, I decided maybe the problem was that I had waited too long to start the whole process. So, when Jessa started her 2nd year at PDO at the Methodist Church in 2007, I started Spencer going 1 day a week.

AUGUST 2007 - the pictures do not tell the sad story. . .

This was equally traumatic. The starting earlier thing did not seem to help immediately. The only positive thing was that I could drop him off first. This way, after I dropped off Jessa, I could hear for myself that he had already stopped crying. Over time he did get some better and had certain teachers that he liked to hug on to ease the pain of my leaving!

Patty and Ida, his saviors at PDO - saying good-bye after a great year

I LOVED the PDO program at the Methodist Church in Leesville. They were so wonderful and nurturing and loved my babies, so I loved them. It was the first time that I had trusted strangers with my children, but after a while, they were no longer strangers. They were our dear friends. When it was time to leave, I was most sad to leave the church and the PDO program. Jessa started her 3rd year there and Spencer stared his 2nd before we moved to Momma's. They were content and happy, which made it so much harder for me to go.

(the point is coming, I promise. . .)
Now that we are in the Stockbridge Methodist Preschool, we are again, in love. I know that I have mentioned this before, but I cannot say it enough. This is such an awesome place and I feel so blessed that my kids have such a wonderful school to attend. In fact, we could move to Ft. Stewart in October, but with David gone, I am staying at Momma's at least through Christmas just for the kids and this school. They both hop out of the car and cannot wait to get in to start their day. Spencer goes M,W,F and Jessa goes M-F. We are there everyday, excited and ready to go! In fact, on Saturday morning, Jessa came running into my room in a panic at 9:40 to wake me up and tell me we were late for school! I had a hard time convincing her this was our day to sleep-in!!

I have told you all before about the hours of this school 9-12. And last week was the first day that they participated in the "stay and play" program to eat lunch and hang out until 2.

(I know it takes me forever to get to the point, David constantly makes fun of me about this problem that I have. I apologize. I am getting there. . .)

Last Wednesday was the first day that we tried this, and it was a hit! I make their lunch and at the end of the regular day (about 12 or so) their teachers take them to their stay and play room. They eat their lunch and play on the playground. The coolest thing to them is that they get to play on the playground together! Last week, they both could not wait to tell me that they were together!! Jessa said that they kissed and hugged when they saw each other. My favorite part was Jessa warning him about the tire swing. After her first time on the tire swing, she threw up twice. She avoids it now, as does Spencer (based on her stern warning). What she says is the last word to him, in this case, I am glad. I hate throw-up AND just looking at a tire swing makes me nauseous.

After a fun stay and play on Wednesday, Spencer and I show up to pick Jessa up Thursday at noon. When she sees me, she stops in her tracks and tears stream down her precious, dramatic little face. She does not say a word to me or to Miss Penny. She follows us to the car, still upset and refusing to talk to me. When we get home, she comes in the house and does not speak to Momma. She went to her room and eventually came out. She still would not tell me anything. Momma finally asked her, "what was wrong when Mommy picked you up?" She finally told her that she was not ready to go home and that she wanted to stay and eat lunch and play longer. Friday was not quite as bad, but she was still not thrilled to see me. I am trying not to take it personally, but today was AWFUL! Just like the first day there, she did not want to leave! I guess I know that she is happy there, right?

So we went straight to the office to sign them up for Monday stay and play, too.

I miss the days of her being glad to see me. . .

Spencer does still run to greet me and is glad to see me. At least I still have him, right?

At the rate we are going, she probably will not even let us take her to college!!