Dancing her way through preschool

If anyone has ever tried to talk to Charlotte, well, you'll know why we've been concerned about her starting preschool. She doesn't talk to strangers. She doesn't talk to people she knows if it's a new situation. Sometimes she doesn't even talk to people she knows in familiar situations. This is Charlotte.

When I first started going to a mom's group two years ago, I had to drop her off in the childcare room. She cried the ENTIRE time I was gone. Entire time, people. She was still crying when I got back almost two hours later. At church on Sundays, she would refuse to go into the nursery. That meant sitting with us in the pews for the whole hour-long service.

I signed her up for gymnastics with her little friend Ella last November. She loved it when she was out there, jumping, turning, flipping. But, she refused to go out for her class until Ella was there. Every. Single. Time. Ella was usually late, so I would sit there with a clingy 2-year-old in my lap watching class until Ella showed up.

Ella quit gymnastics after one session, but Charlotte really loved it, so I knew we had to stick it out. It took a lot of time, but eventually she started going out without crying and fussing. Seriously, it took months, but it eventually it happened.

So, needless to say, I was worried about preschool starting. I had signed her up for the 3-year-old class at the same preschool Molly used to attend. As the time started approaching, I started getting more and more nervous. The week before preschool started, the school had a meet-the-teacher time. We had a 9 o'clock appointment to meet Miss Patty in the Panda Room.

Cory and I were both going to go with Charlotte, but I forgot the paperwork for the school, so I turned around halfway and let Cory take Charlotte. I was a couple minutes late and walked into the class to see Charlotte clinging to Cory and burying her head into his shoulder. She absolutely would not look at Miss Patty. She absolutely would not talk to Miss Patty. She absolutely would not take a picture for Miss Patty.

Do you think I'm exaggerating to make a good story? Yeah, no, I'm not.

This is the picture Miss Patty took to put on the wall. Lovely, no?

Alright, so after that disaster of a meeting, I got even more nervous about preschool. Being my baby, I've become rather attached to Charlotte. Meaning, not only was I nervous about how she was going to do, I was also nervous about how I was going to do without her.

Wait?!? What?!? I have a 1st grader?!?

I know everyone says the same thing when school starts each year, "I can't believe my kid has gotten so big." "I can't believe school is back in session." "They are growing up way too fast."

Yes, those are all cliches, but oh, man, they are so true. I thought every single one of those this morning as I walked Molly to her first day of first grade. Seriously, 1st grade?!?! I still remember them handing her to me in the hospital and not even thinking that school was anywhere close to my future. I distinctly remember hearing other moms talk about their kids going to school and I couldn't even comprehend anything about it because it was so far from my realm.

Man, it did not take long for me to be smack dab in the middle of that realm. I don't remember okaying that.

Molly, however, has been super excited for school to start. She loves school. She's never been nervous about it at all. For her first day of preschool, she jumped out of the car, waved her hand and said, "Bye, Mom!" without even a hug or kiss. I've never had to worry about her being sad or nervous for school. Me, on the other hand?

I know I should be used to this. I did it last year. I had the whole sobbing in front of the school librarian after dropping her off at Kindergarten fiasco. But, I'm still sad. She's my baby. I've been hugging her a little bit longer and squeezing her a little bit tighter these last couple days, just trying to steel myself up for today.

And, today came:

The power of the paddle

I know a lot of my recent posts have been a little school-heavy. But, well, that's what my life is right now, and this blog is called Life makes me Laff, so ... that's what you get. And, here's another one:

Molly's school only does one fundraiser a year. They have a walk-a-thon and get pledges from people to support the kids' walking. And, from my point of view, that's awesome. That means no selling wrapping paper, coupon books or cookie dough. (Though, being a Daisy Scout, she will be selling Girl Scout Cookies. Get ready.) I'm ecstatic not to have to go around asking everyone to buy stuff, of which only a percentage actually goes to the school.

We asked some neighbors and family to pledge money a couple weeks ago, then Friday was the big walk. The walk took place during school, then in the evening they had a party at the school with a bake sale, concessions and an auction.

Oh, boy. Did we clean up good at the auction. Being first-timers to this whole shebang, we weren't really sure how much things would go for. So, Cory had an amount he was wanting to spend to get the one thing on the auction list that we really wanted: drum roll, please ...

A movie after school with Molly's teacher.

If you're thinking, "Wow, that's so cool. What a great way for Molly to get in even better with her teacher," well, then that's what I was thinking, too. We're so on the same wavelength! And, if you just thought, "Wow, Molly would probably love that," well, you're clearly not as big of a kiss-up to teachers as I am. But, the truth is, Molly would love it. We happened to run into her computer teacher out at dinner the other night, and Molly was beyond excited. She would be over the moon to actually go see a movie with her teacher.

So, that was the big plan. That was our goal. We got to school, got some hot dogs and staked a claim on a table in the auction room.

Eating hot dogs with Dad.

Molly with her classmate.

The big movie outing was the second item on the auction block. The auction started. We wait for the announcement. Our hearts start pounding, palms sweating. Would we get it? Could we get it? How high was it going to go? How much would we be willing to fight for it? You could cut the tension with a knife.

Alright, that might be a slight exaggeration. Truth be told, you could barely hear anything over the din of children and parents talking and screaming, and we weren't really nervous or sweaty, but it makes it much more dramatic to think of it the other way. So, just go with me.

The announcer called, "Movie after school with Mrs. Clutts." She opened the bidding at $10. Someone else raised her paddle. Aack, this was going to be a bidding war. "Do I hear $11?" Cory quickly raised his paddle. "I've got $11, do I have $12? $12? $12? Ok, it goes for $11 to paddle number 14."

Wait, what?

How in the world did it go that quickly? How was there not a fight to the death for the privilege of going to a movie with Molly's awesome teacher? I guess it doesn't matter. We got it. WE WON.

But, it was WAY less than we were planning on spending, and all the money does go to Molly's school, so Cory started going bidding crazy.

We ended up with "Making jewelry after school with a teacher" and "Making cookies after school with a teacher." THEN, we went into the silent auction.

It's the little things

Lately, I've been having a lot of "ahhh" moments. Not to be confused with Oprah's "Ah-ha" moments, of course. I'm not claiming I'm anything like the O. 

Just little things that have made me smile or feel really blessed or just say, "ahhh, life is good." Nothing big or life-changing, but definitely moment-pausing. So, in honor of all the little things in life, here are a couple of my recent "ahhh" moments.

1. Starbucks. Despite the fact that I don't drink coffee, I've been a fan of Starbucks for about five years. (I distinctly remember my very first Chai Tea Latte, courtesy of Aunt Jan on the weekend of Molly's baptism.) But, lately, I've discovered a couple things I never knew. Did you know that you can get a Chai Tea Latte as a frozen drink? Yeah, I discovered that this summer. It's called a Chai Creme Frappucino. And, it is delicious. Then, three weeks ago, I discovered that you can get Starbucks' famous pumpkin spice added to either the Chai Creme Frappcino or my regular Chai Tea Latte. And, if you're like me, you can always get them made with soy. Mmmmmmmm ... heaven, pure heaven, I'm tellin' ya.

Back to the grind of school

The other morning, a friend asked me how Molly was doing at Kindergarten. "She's doing really well. She definitely likes it, even if she's exhausted by the end of the day." No joke, the whole day kindergarten is truly exhausting Molly. She turns into an absolute bear by the time dinner rolls around. Apparently, this is pretty common for the start of kindergarten, but it's definitely a challenge in our family. I jokingly told Cory that Molly was purposefully trying to make me not miss her during the day by being on such horrible behavior at the end of the day.

Then, my friend asked me if I gave a present to Molly's teacher on the first day of school. "WHAT?!?!? I was supposed to do that?" Geesh. I was only three days into the school year, and I was already behind. I didn't even think about getting a present for the teacher, but apparently some parents bring them to Back-to-School nights or the first day. We were past both of those already.

Our elementary school is a Title 1 school, which means that it has a lot of lower-income families and wider diversity. I am glad that Molly will be exposed to more diversity, but I also worry that she will get overlooked because she is a good and quiet kid. I worry that kids with more behavior and learning issues will get most of the attention.

So, if a present to her teacher will help keep her in the forefront of the teacher's mind, then by all means, I will do it! I am not above that! Not to mention the fact that Molly's teacher is in charge of my baby girl all day and deserves to be recognized and appreciated for that.

Enter Pinterest. Both the savior and the devil. I found a ton of great ideas, and I talked to my friend Sarah who is a former teacher. She assured me gift cards were always popular, and teachers can always use school supplies. So, I created a "Congratulations on completing the first full week of school" present for Molly's teacher, complete with gift cards to Starbucks and Office Max.

The whole present. I still have my friend's Cricut machine from Charlotte's birthday, so I just used it to make the tag. Thanks, Sarah! :)

Kindergarten, tears and plaid

Ok, anyone who has seen me, talked to me, or read anything I've posted on Facebook or this blog in the last couple months knows that I've kind of been having a hard time with Molly starting Kindergarten. And, I'm probably underselling myself with the "kind of." Truth is, I'm really struggling with it.

In the past week, I've cried at least once a day. Last night, I woke up from a Kindergarten nightmare at 2am and spent the next two hours tossing and turning, trying not to think about the fact that Molly was starting today. My mind meandered from what to pack for my weekend trip, to the proper way to wash workout gear, to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. (FYI - I have since discovered that the crisis in the Middle East cannot be solved in the middle of the night while laying in bed in Kansas. Just so you know.) But, my brain just kept coming back to how sad I was that my baby starting school today.

Ridiculous, I know. Ludicrous, I know. Completely and utterly sappy, I know. But, still, there it is. I'm still crying in the bathroom. Gotta hide it from Molly, after all.

Here's the thing: I know Molly is going to love Kindergarten. I know that I'm going to be fine. I know Charlotte and I will find fun stuff to do with just the two of us.

I know this is not the first step to the end of her childhood. In my head, I know that she is still a little girl with a lot of childhood left. But, my head needs to tell my heart.

My heart just aches over the end of this time of our lives. I'm sad that for the rest of her childhood, we will be anchored in to the schedule of the Olathe School District. I'm sad that we can't have family lunches by meeting Cory during the work day. I'm sad that it will no longer be just me, Molly and Charlotte toodling around town with no concrete plans. I'm sad that Molly won't be at Papa Pancakes (our weekly Tuesday breakfasts with my dad) anymore. I'm sad that her baby book literally ends after the picture for her first day of Kindergarten. That's just cruel to us moms, right?

So, while I know that I will get used to this change in our lives, and I know Molly will thrive and grow and love school, I'm still grieving for the end of this phase. Staying home with my girls is the only thing I've known as a mom, so it will take some time to adjust to this new phase.

I will get to the point of being ok, I promise. I swear, I will. In the meantime, just give me a little freedom to cry a few tears. And, please don't laugh at me?

So, without further ado, the reason you're probably really reading this. Pictures from the first day.:

A couple weeks ago, we went shopping for some back to school clothes for Molly. I don't know what it is about plaid that screams back to school to me. It's that whole Catholic school uniform, I guess. That, or too many times of watching Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Therefore: Molly gets her first Kindergarten picture in the sweetest plaid skirt outfit around.

I was thinking about doing the cute Pinterest thing where you have your kid hold a sign or a chalkboard or a poster saying what year they are in. It looks super cute on Pinterest. I just didn't get around to it. So, I photoshopped the words on, instead. 

Pretty Preschool Princess

We have reached the end. The end of Molly's first year of preschool. And yet, I still cannot erase the indelible mental snapshot from the beginning of the school year. It is a picture of me, crying, sitting in my car after dropping Molly off for the first time. I just could not believe that my baby was old enough to be going to school. She looked so adorable in her big ol' backpack. And, she jumped right out of the car and walked away from me with nary a wave.

First day of Preschool. How cute is she?