Giant Backpacks and Attitude

Today was Kate's FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL!!!!! I cannot believe it. She was soooo excited to go. She is required to bring a backpack to school and 'character backpacks' being discouraged, we had to find a plain one. OF COURSE, Kate selected a pink one, but unfortunately it looks like a turtle shell on her because it is for a bigger kid. I could not find a preschooler sized pack anywhere that did not have some form of cartoon on it! Oh well. She loves it and feels super special for having it. She made a big production this morning over making sure her backpack was ready to go with her to school!

Dropping her off was fine. She had no problem whatsoever. I leaned down to kiss her goodbye and barely brushed her cheek before she was dashing off to play with the other kids in the classroom. While some children were in meltdown mode, Kate could care less that I was leaving - I have to say I would not have minded a hug goodbye :) She was so ready for school!!!

As I was leaving, I was a little sad, but had LIam in my arms to preoccupy me. Just then, Debbie Downer Mom - parent of another preschooler - approached me with her whiny voice: "Can you beliiieeeevvveee how many kids are in that cllaaaaaaaas? I think there are too many kiiiiids for just two teeeaaaccchhherrrrrs. It is is hooorrriiibbblllllllle. I think we should get a paaarent patrol going and have each paaaaaarent sign up to sit in on claaaaases to moooonitor those teaaaaaachers to make sure they are doing a good jooooooob. Aren't you woooooorriiiiieeeed? How can they waaaatch all of them? What if something haaaaappens to your kiiiiiiid?"

ARGH! Thanks, Little Mary Sunshine! Good heavens! If I was not worried before I certainly am IRRITATED now! I told her "You know, those teachers have been doing this for 25 years, I think they have it covered and have probably seen it all." Of course she disagreed. I just ignored her. I WANTED to tell her that, first of all, one of the best things we can do as parents of school age kids is support our educators. Secondly, if you feel your kid needs such special attention then either put him in a class where the teacher/student ratio is 1:3 (this is not daycare, it is SCHOOL - how many classes did you have where there were 5 teachers??!!!), OR stop whining about others and placing blame around and instead just home school your kid and answer to no one but yourself. I did not think that was a good way to start the year off with another parent, though. Everyone was pretty much rolling their eyes at her. I think my irritation with her, though, really helped me keep my mind off of missing Kate and the sentimental tone of the day, so I did not fall apart too bad. Once I drove away, though, I did choke up. She is such a big girl!

When I picked Kate up, she was excited to see me, which is always nice. She talked a lot about the playground, but when I asked her what else she did she kind of shrugged and asked what was for lunch. Is she 2 going on 16?! I need details, people!!!!! Here is what the car ride home was like:

Maggie: "Did you paint?"
Kate: "I don't know. Can I have applesauce at lunch?"
Maggie: "Did you sing songs?"
Kate: "Ummmmm. I don't know? Can I have fruit snacks?"
Maggie: "Did you have a snack at school?"
Kate: "My tummy is growling. Can I have a snack?"
Maggie: What else happened at school? Did you read stories?
Kate: "Actually (I love it when she says this) we read about Clifford the Big Dog. Can I have milk?"

So all I know is she went on the playground (I also know this because her teacher mentioned that when she told Kate is was time to go inside, Kate politely declined, saying "No, Thank You, teacher!" and that they read about Clifford. Sounds like a good day for a 2 year old!

Anyway, I am babbling BIG TIME. It is just a BIG DAY! Kate is fine with school. She must have played and learned hard because she CRASHED for her nap.

Here are some pics of her and her giant back pack.