sevigny stories: Pre-K 3 Orientation

Mr. AJ's first day of Pre-K 3 was today! My baby boy started school today!! Where the heck has the time gone and how the heck did he get old enough to start school?! I put on a brave face and daddy and I made sure our little man had a good start with a yummy breakfast of cheesy eggs and hot dogs. In the previous few days/week, AJ has been saying that he scared to go to school and he didn't want to be left alone at school. Lucky for him, today was orientation and both Mommy and Daddy got to stay with him the whole day. We got to school a little early and had to wait until all the buses made their way to the back if the school and then we could go park and bring in our little man. We got to the main office where we had to sign in and get our visitor badges and AJ was all Chatty Cathy! One of the grandparents of his classmate (Declan, who also happens to be the teachers son) was asking Declan what animal was on the visitor badge and AJ chimed right in and said 'turtle'! My little boy is never usually one to chime in and answer questions.. He's usually the shy one hanging out behind momma's legs - not today in the main office though and that made mommy feel pretty good. It was at that moment that I knew my little guy would be ok going to school! Anyway - fast forward to the classroom and the routine is to wash your hands when you go into the room because of allergies and after that Mrs McManus had some activities planned for the kids. First up was finding the Popsicle stick with your name on it by the door and bringing it to the easel to show that you had come to class today. Daddy brought AJ over to the door to find his stick and unfortunately, a Popsicle stick with his name on it wasn't there. :( We told Mrs McManus, who seemed to feel terrible and a little embarrassed, and she made sure to go get his Popsicle stick from her stash. After he then brought it to the easel, which was on the castle rig where reading time is, it was time to find his name on the laminated sheets on writing table and spell it out to mommy and daddy. I am proud to say he knew almost every letter, he gets a little confused with the lowercase d in his name and sometimes thinks it's a b though! After that it was off to the sensory table where he had to use the chopsticks to pick up a puff ball from the rice. He absolutely loved this activity - Im pretty sure it was his favorite since we could barely get him to leave to move on to the next activity of 'cooking' up a snack in the play kitchen. Daddy had an awesome breakfast of microwaved pear with a little bit of cinnamon and a microwaved cheeseburger which was served to him in a stainless steel steamer basket! I love his imagination! Next we were off to play with some building blocks which AJ made an apple lie with for mommy to eat. He made sure to 'stir' the pie by lining up all the blocks. Again, AJs imagination at its finest! Then it was back to the sensory table because he just couldn't get enough of using the chopsticks and picking up the puff balls!

After those fun activities it was story time with The Kissing Hand book. Mrs McManus had the kids sit on the castle rug and tell everyone their name before she read, which AJ was shy for and didn't say his name - he just hung his head down and didn't talk. Then it was story time with a fun activity afterwards related to the story. We got to trace each other's hands, cut them out (AJs first time using scissors - nervous mom right here!) and the place happy face stickers on then. Finally, we had to give each hand a special kiss from mommy (related to the story) so when AJ is in class and misses his mommy, he can go to our cutout hands and touch it, knowing mommy's kisses were right there and she isn't too far away! After activity time the kiddos washed their hands again and it was snack time. Applesauce and juice for the kiddos, which AJ only chose to drink the juice despite our efforts to get him to eat the applesauce. He had a small little meltdown where we had a little fit and he hit mommy, but daddy talked to him and he was fine within seconds. Then he was back to playing with the puzzles and enjoying his new classroom. As we were playing Auntie Jen came in quickly and waved to us, but AJ missed her so Mrs McManus opened up the secret door that joins the Pre-K and Kindergarten rooms and AJ got to see Auntie Jen - he was tickled pink about this!

We left soon thereafter where AJ proudly wore his backpack and walked down the hallway back to the office so mommy and daddy could sign out. Along our walk, AJ noticed and pointed out the 'water mountain' (aka fountain) and was so excited that he was in 'his school'. AJ won't be back until next Wednesday (a whole week away) for his actual first day of school and I can't wait. He seemed to really enjoy his time in the classroom today and I have a feeling he will learn to love school!

Alexander - Daddy and I are so proud of you on your first day of school. We can't wait to see what the school year has in store for you - we love you little guy!

Now, if mommy and AJ can survive the first drop off without lots of tears next week... That's our next mission to be accomplished! Wish us luck next week!