Foster Further

Wow, what a weird time. The kids did their fourth day of preschool phase-in on Thursday. It was a full day, they had lunch there for the first time, and when I picked them up at 3:00 they were exhausted. Tired, grumpy kids. School was already scheduled not to meet on Fri because the teachers had a training. Then we found out Fri morning that schools would be shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. So....no preschool. Huh. I don't know what to think. I found out Fri that I'll be starting my new job Mon but also working from home, as is Theo, for the next few weeks. I'm dreading trying to re-phase them in all over again four weeks from now. What a crazy time.

Got the kids up early today and headed in for second phase of acclimating to preschool: mom leaving! On the drive there I prepped them all. Showed them the big tub of cookies they'd get to pick from when they got back in the car. Talked about all the fun they had yesterday. Cheered and whoo-hooed our way into the building. ...and it worked! James went right in with no tears. The girls were instantly mingling with their "friends". Very peaceful and smooth. I grocery shopped without kids--a miracle! Got done in half the time as I've completely lost all ability to estimate how long errands should take without toddler delays anymore. Went to pick them up and, another miracle, they were all happy to leave! No tears! No chaos! I swear this preschool teacher, who has been a preschool teacher for 21 years, is an actual saint. She has this lovely calm-but-firm demeanor that just makes kids instantly comply with her every request without even the thought of protest. A...

This week I'm slowing phasing in the three littles to a real preschool (vs. the little homeschool preschool I've been doing). Today we visited for an hour, with me staying with the kids. When we arrived we brought a gift to the secretary and each kid had a gift book in their backpack to present to the classroom. That went well. My kids love to give gifts and it made a smooth transition into the room. Then it was time to join centers. James had cried all the way from the car into the school, saying "preschool was scary" so he was hiding behind my legs at first. Then the teacher lured him off in hunt of animals and they found a tub of figurines. He happily sat on a rug lining up each animal after first showing it to me and asking me to name it. I sat in a chair a little ways away and tried not to only focus on him so he wouldn't expect nonstop mommy attention but felt safe all the same. Jane was gone. I looked up and she was fully immersed with kids at a cente...

This week starts with losing an hour to the time change, has a full moon in it, and ends with Friday the 13th. It's also the week my three littles start "real" preschool for the very first time in their life. Not one of them has spent a minute in a school setting before but they'll need to be full time by Friday. Hah! P.S. I got a job. I resigned from teaching a year ago to be home with the girls and now it's time to go back. I found an online teaching job that, let's be honest, isn't real education in the truest sense, but it does give me the flexibility in scheduling that our family needs. So, the littles go to real preschool now, not my little homeschool version. On the week with a time change and a full moon. Oh lordy. Because I know how hard it is to add a new kid to the class, let alone THREE at once, I have already prepared gifts for the classroom teacher and the secretary and we are planning to make a nice, fat donation to the school. At one ti...