Claire's First Day of Preschool

Before I jump into the preschool thing, I have to mention one of the sweetest moments we have experienced as parents so far. Every night, I check on Claire before I go to bed. Last night, she was sleeping in a really cute position, so I called Josh to come look. She stirred a little, then looked up at me in her sleepy haze and said, "Love you, Mom" in the sweetest little sleepy voice I've ever heard. Then she saw Josh standing next to me, looked at him, and said, "Love you, Dad." It was so precious that even my husband's eyes watered a little! She was so out of it that she was back asleep within 5 seconds, but it felt like she just wanted to make sure we knew she loved us. So sweet!

Okay, now on to preschool...

Claire started preschool today! She's been asking to go ever since we took our first preschool tour over the summer, so she was thrilled when we told her today was the big day. She carried her own little backpack and was so excited to be at school that she was pulling me toward her classroom as fast her little legs could carry her. There were no tears. In fact, I could barely even get her attention to say good-bye.

We decided to put her in preschool for a several reasons. First, we're hoping to add to the family sometime in the next year and I wanted to make sure I had reliable care for Claire when I have doctor's appointments. Secondly, Claire just seemed ready. She's such an active and social little girl, so I had no doubt that she would LOVE preschool (and she does). Third, I'll admit that I am a little excited about going to get my oil changed  (or grocery shopping, or mopping the floors) without wrangling a toddler. And I think Claire will be happy to miss those times as well. Now she'll spend two mornings a week at preschool while I do all my boring grown-up stuff. Everybody wins!