Preschool Diaries

I hate to admit it, but the "preschool frenzy" has gotten to me. Many of the moms that I encounter in Los Angeles act like preschool is going to determine whether or not their child becomes the next CEO of Google. Lately every playgroup or class that we attend someone is talking about it and asking where we have applied. Apparently most of the moms in LA started thinking about where to send their kid to preschool while they were pregnant.

First, let me be clear that I do not buy into the whole exclusivity and prestigious preschool snobbery that exists here. Seriously, people! These kids are still babies. Most of them still poop their pants, spit and throw food, and have meltdowns reminiscent of a cave person on a daily basis. I am definitely not looking for an academic program (with a $20,000 tuition) that will require her to sit at a table all morning and participate in a structured curriculum. Trust me, as an educator, I know all to well that there will be plenty of time for that later in her school career. Instead, I want her to play, socialize, and learn that the world does not revolve solely around her wants and demands. I believe that preschool for a two year old should focus on a couple of realistic learning outcomes: learning how to function in a group, following basic rules, and sharing/playing with others. It should also provide mommy and daddy with a much needed break a few mornings a week.

Now I will get off of my soapbox and tell you one of my favorite Everly stories of all time! Since we are only about four months away from Everly's 2nd birthday, I figured that I should start exploring our options. After some research and recommendations from some level-headed moms in our area, we decided to tour a small church-based preschool program that is focused solely on play and socialization. We decided to take Everly with us on the tour to see how she would react to the setting and all of the children. From the minute we walked in the door Everly was ready to put on a show. As we were waiting in the lobby to start the tour with about 5 other sets of parents, Everly decided it was time to share her extensive color knowledge with everyone by pointing out all of the colors on the tile floor. She enthusiastically shouted and pointed to every single color, over and over, until she was sure that she had every one's full attention. It was actually quite funny. Here was this tiny little 19 month old girl walking back and forth and shouting out "yellow", "purple", "blue", "red", "orange", "green" with such authority and pride. I secretly couldn't stop laughing because all I could think about was how the other parents were probably thinking that we had staged this performance. Too bad we weren't at one of those snobby preschools that actually conducts interviews and requires applications, huh?

As part of the tour we were able to visit all the classrooms. This was Everly's favorite part of the whole experience (mine too!). As soon as the door to the two year old room opened, Everly cut in front of the director who was leading the tour and walked right up to one of the tables where the children were having snack and pulled up a chair. I am just thankful that she didn't say "move" as she barreled through the door (which is one of her favorite, yet not so charming, commands that she has picked up from our interactions with Bama). She looked over at the teacher who was serving apples to all the kids and waited patiently for her snack. Before the teacher could get to her table she discovered a reading center and immediately darted out of her seat, grabbed a book, and made herself comfortable in a small chair in the back of the room. No one on the tour could focus on what the director was saying about the classroom because they were all watching and laughing at Everly's assumed familiarity and eagerness to join the class. Her readiness for exploration and social play was never more obvious than at that moment. This same behavior continued in every room that we toured. The teachers in the four year old classroom could not get over how comfortable she was interacting and playing with the "big" kids. She did not even hesitate about joining in with a small group of four year old boys who were playing together. She walked right up to the group, grabbed a handful of Legos, and sat down right in the middle of them. She also grabbed some freshly glued craft sticks right off of a little girl's art project. Luckily, I was able to stop Everly's path of destruction and put the sticks back in place before the little girl had a meltdown. Of course all of the other children on the tour were standing quietly with their parents or being held without protest.

Needless to say, Danny and I were both sweating by the end of the tour (big beads of sweat were running down my back actually). I was secretly afraid that we would be blackballed after Everly's show, but thankfully we were still able to secure a spot in the two year old classroom. It makes me a little sad to think about my baby starting preschool in the fall, but after observing her behavior on the tour I am convinced now more than ever that she needs it for more than a few reasons. :)

"Say-Yow"

"Say-Yow": Everly's pronunciation for "flower".

She makes my heart smile!

On a side note, she is the flower girl in our cousin's wedding next weekend. I can just picture her running down the aisle shouting "say-yow", "say-yow" as she throws flower petals in the air. This should be good! 

Mommy, Wow! I'm a Big Kid Now...Sorta!

A couple of months ago we bought a potty chair so that we could slowly introduce Everly to the idea of going to the bathroom in the toilet. From the minute we unveiled the chair she thought it was the best toy ever. For months she has climbed on top of it, pulled it from one corner of her room to the other, shoved her dirty clothes and toys in it, and hidden some of her most valuable treasures inside of it (i.e. pacifiers). I honestly wasn't sure when we would start trying to officially begin potty training, but over the past few weeks she has become more interested in the whole bathroom process. She LOVES to flush the toilet after I go and exclaim, "Bye-Bye Pee-Pee, Bye-Bye Poo-Poo" (TMI, I know, but she has to learn somehow, right?).

Anyway, this afternoon after I got home from work, Danny and I were about to start the bedtime ritual when we casually asked her when she was going to start using the potty like a big girl. She immediately ran over to her potty and started trying to take off her diaper. As soon as we got the diaper off of her she climbed on and off of the chair a few times, summoned all of her favorite stuffed animals to sit with her, and then stood up suddenly and started concentrating really hard. In an instant she was peeing on the floor! I gave her a gentle nudge so that she would sit back down on the potty and before we knew it there was a small puddle in the pan (along with a much larger puddle on the floor!).

Even though the majority of the urine was on the floor we still celebrated her performance with squeals of delight and praise. The pride on her face as we sent her drops of "pee-pee" down the big toilet was priceless. I am sure like everything else in parenthood this milestone will be two steps forward, one step back, but experiencing this first moment with her was pretty awesome! Looks like we better invest in some pull ups and a prize jar sooner rather than later.