Preschool: Take Two!

Right before we left for Florida, I called around to put Izzy on some preschool waiting lists, and lo and behold, one of them actually had a spot. So today I packed his little snack bag with a juice, cheese, and raisins, I put a Ziploc baggie filled with a change of clothes back into his Spiderman backpack, dressed him in his new red sweater and we headed back through the doors of formal education.

The teachers were all happy to see him today and they are warm and loving, just what I wanted to see in a preschool teacher. We hung around for a few minutes, then Chris and I both gave him a hug and told him we loved him, and he told us bye and he loved us too, very nonchalantly. I stepped back and took a few pictures and he looked up and smiled at me and shook his head up and down, like he was saying everything was good. I shook my head back and told him to have a good day, and he said, "I will, Mommy!"


When pick up time rolled around, we all lined up and waited. After a few minutes, the teachers opened the door and asked if Isaac’s mommy was there and when I stepped forward, they asked if I could come on in. My heart sank. I went in and I nearly swooned with relief when they told me that he needed bathroom help and wouldn't do it himself - apparently it's their policy that the teachers are not allowed to help with...toilet paper issues, let's call it. I peeked around the door and he was standing there expectantly with a piece of toilet paper in his hand, poor little guy! Not to mention poor teachers - again, let's be vague and say they were likely rather surprised. What a way to make a first impression, huh?

He has three teachers - Ms. Reba is the main one, Ms. Patches apparently does the "schoolwork" type stuff, and Ms. Emily is the art teacher. They rotate, in three groups, from room to room during the morning, which I think will be really good for Izzy. But school was out all of last week due to snow (they cancel when the county cancels or has a delay) so by the time Izzy’s group reached the work group at the end of the morning, all of the kids were a bit antsy. I LOVED that they were so quick to make sure that I knew Izzy was not an aberration.

He did, however, do the same thing as he did at the other preschool, which is to get angry when he can't hold a pencil/crayon right and refuse to keep trying. Yep, he pushed his papers on his desk again. I did cringe when they told me that, but I guess that it's a bigger issue than I realize since he's had two schools complain about it now. But they were quick to tell me that they think he'll adjust quickly and that he was very good and listened well until that last activity.

I'm chalking this up to a huge success, and I can't wait to see how he does Wednesday. The difference between how I felt walking out of this preschool and the first one is worlds apart. I really do think this is where Izzy will thrive. If anyone has a great tip for getting him to hold his pencil/crayon/pen right, drop me a line, okay?