First Day of Preschool!

Madeleine is now officially a preschooler!  Today was her first day in the Teddy Bear class, and she was excited this morning to finally wear her brand new first-day-of-school dress.  The dress was not the only thing she wanted to wear, however:

She spent much of the morning crawling around the dining room floor woofing like a dog.  That would certainly be one way to make a lasting impression at school, all right.  Luckily, by the time we were heading out, she had abandoned the dog mask in favor of her new backpack.  It was an exciting morning for both girls, since Julia was headed to her first morning of the kindergarten extended day program, so I got to drop them both off at their respective schools bright and early.

First stop was Julia's school, after which Madeleine and I headed off to preschool for her first day as a Teddy Bear.  All this time, I have assumed Madeleine understood what I meant when I told her she'd be going to preschool, especially considering she attended the preschool orientation last spring and got to play in the classroom and on the playground.  I guess I was wrong; it turns out, the concept is a lot more confusing than I had assumed.  As I pulled into the preschool parking lot, Madeleine became adamant that we were in the wrong place.  "No, Mommy!  This is JULIA'S school!" she corrected me, even as I was hoisting her out of her car seat and handing her backpack to her.  "This is not MY school, this is JULIA'S school!"

Didn't we *just* drop Julia off at her new school?  Apparently Madeleine didn't register that fact.  She didn't seem ready to accept the idea that this was now HER school.  However, once we got inside and she could get her hands on all the playthings, she was more than happy to accept her membership. 

Cheeeeeeese!

Like Julia on her first day of kindergarten, Madeleine had no problem separating, so I was able to drop her off quickly and easily.  When I went to pick her up, we discussed how her first day had gone.

ME: So, Madeleine, how was school?
MADELEINE: Um...it was GREAT!
ME: What did you do at school?
MADELEINE: Um...I was riding the red bike, and I was riding the pink bike, and the TRACTOR, and...the scooter didn't work.
ME: Oh, okay, so you played outside.  What else did you do?  Did you have snack?
MADELEINE: Um...YES!
ME: What did you have?
MADELEINE: The square ones.
ME: Square crackers?
MADELEINE: Yes.
ME: Did you have juice?
MADELEINE: Um...I had WATER.

I should have kept my blundering mouth shut.  No sooner had I mentioned juice than her mood suddenly took a turn and next thing I knew, she was needing to lay her head on my shoulder and lament about not having had juice.

MADELEINE: Mommy, I wanted some JUICE, and I was just...SAD AT SCHOOL that I didn't have JUICE.

Wow.  What a hardship.  I can see how having water instead of juice could have put a damper on her GREAT! day.  I guess it was a short-lived lament, though, because as we pulled into our driveway and got out of the car, Madeleine announced to me, "Mommy, I just LOVED going to my preschool!"

Phew.  Glad to know the juice thing wasn't a deal breaker.  I'm hoping Julia will express a similar love for her first extended day when I go to pick her up later on!