September 02, 2006: Higher Education

Veronika started preschool on Thursday! We found a great school for her that meets five days a week from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. We started telling her about it a couple of weeks ahead of time in the hopes that getting her used to the idea would dispel any fears she might have. Not only did she not express any reservations about going, she began asking five times a day "Am I going to preschool today?" with eyes alight and hope in her voice.

The day finally arrived and she was excited. She put on a special pink dress and couldn't decide which hair accessory to go with, the pink barrette or pink ponytail holder. After breakfast she put on her Blue's Clues backpack (prepared a week in advance) and was ready to go. We arrived at the school and she marched in right away, even leading the way up the steps. We got to the classroom, said hello to her teachers (we had all met them the previous week at a Meet the Teacher night) and found the hook for her backpack and the nametag sticker for her dress. She acted like she usually does in social situations—quiet, hanging around Mama and Papa's legs but with an underbite smile hinting at her inner excitement. We told her that she could go play with the kids whose toys she was eyeing and she took a step but then asked me to come along and play with her. I reminded her that she could play by herself at preschool and after considering that for a minute, she went off and played. When it was time for us to go, we gave her a hug and kiss and she went back to playing. No tears, nothing.

When Mama picked her up, the teacher said that she was very good, quiet but still participating in all the activities, and all smiles of course. Veronika was clearly excited but reluctant to share as many details of the day as we had hoped. And the next day, she went back and did it all over again.

So that's that. Summer vacations aside, she will most likely be in school every day until she moves away from home. Still trying to wrap my head around that one.