Preschool! Freddy was SO excited about preschool! I was super nervous. I hosted an Open House where the families could come see the classroom and meet the other kids the Friday before so I got to know the kids a little better and that helped settle my mind a little about how it was going to go and I was mostly excited too for the first day!
Our first day was rainy and one of our friends wasn't able to come so it was just the 5 kids and me. It was ..... kinda super crazy. I wasn't planning on going out in the rain for recess time, but we all needed it so I was able to scrounge up last minute a bunch of umbrellas and some extra boots. I'm glad I told parents to bring extra clothes for emergency changes because a few of the kids got soaked (and I knew it was ok with their parents). I had been a little off in my planning as I was thinking back to my student teaching experience at the BYU preschool... which as I really thought about it after the first week...was a POST-Kindergarten class.... and my current class has two 2 year olds, two 3 year olds and two 4 year olds. Some of the kids cried for their mom a few times, and sharing was often a problem and I felt like I was putting out fires and having to talk CONSTANTLY. Like no joke, I was saying something every second whether it be breaking up a fight, encouraging a sad kid to get engaged with something, explaining a rule about only playing with the toys that are out, or some other thing. Whew. I was exhausted and shocked at how difficult it was and SOOO worried about what the next preschool day would be like when our youngest friend was able to join us.
The next preschool day was even crazier! I feel like I managed to keep my crazy emotions hidden from the kids and I hope they had a good time. Everyone certainly had a good moment, with most kids having lots of good moments. But our youngest friend had a really hard time. His first 20 minutes were great! No problem leaving mom, and loved building with the straws and pokie balls. But as soon as another kid had a sad moment and cried for mom for a split second, its like he realized for the first time that his mom wasn't there and he basically cried the rest of the time - like a scream/cry. After getting him to calm down for short periods of time but by his 4th long crying/screaming spell where he wouldn't let me touch him or comfort him or distract him I texted his mom and asked her to come get him. I could tell it was wearing on the other kids and I was totally unable to lead any of the activities. This mom was so sweet and understanding and came right away. But once the other kids saw one mom come, 2 of them started crying for their moms and pretty much cried for 30 minutes longer till they came. I was sweating like crazy and feeling a pretty stressed about this all just falling apart. WHAT WAS I THINKING starting a preschool while I was 6 months pregnant?! I thought I was a talented teacher and it was humbling to have the first week be so difficult.
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