Big Stuff

Yesterday, Jay and I brought Sasha to her daycare for a "practice" day. This means she stayed a couple of hours without us there to get her acclimated to the environment. I highly suspect these trial days are as much about getting mama adjusted as it is about getting baby adjusted. At least, that's how it worked for me.

As soon as we got there, Sasha was off exploring and chatting up the other toddlers. It was a quiet morning, with a few of the kids out sick, which made it a perfect day to get to know the school a little better. Jay and I stayed for about 10 minutes, but it was pretty clear that she was doing fine. As we were putting on our shoes to leave, she realized that we weren't bringing her with us and began to cry. I've read that in this situation, you don't want to linger, but it's even worse to sneak out. Clearly, we weren't sneaking out, but how long of a "goodbye" becomes lingering?

I didn't pick her up, I just restated that we love her and will be back to pick her up later and then we left. I didn't feel as emotional as I thought I might, mainly because I felt in my heart that she was fine and in good hands. There was a small part of me also that thought, "And now, I get to go drink coffee and read the paper All By Myself. Wheee!" So, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I was seriously tearing up and anxious on the way over, so this came as a pleasant surprise.

When I came to pick her up, she looked at me and gave me a big grin, but wasn't desperate to get up into my arms. A slight blow to my ego, but a really good sign. The teacher told me she cried for about 5 minutes, but they gave her lots of hugs and distracted her. She had a big lunch and when she saw all the kids with their sippy cups, she put down her bottle and drank from a cup. They said she talked a lot, which is not surprising, and she was clearly comfortable and happy when I came in. She walked around pointing at all her new discoveries, and one of the little boys was clearly smitten with her as he kept saying, "That's Sasha. Bye Sasha" as we got ready to go. I think he was still saying "bye Sasha" when we closed the door behind us. Sasha's first school friend!

I can't explain how wonderful seeing her adjust so well makes me feel. I know it's not the same as leaving her for eight hours, but just that little glimpse reassures me that all of this will be okay. It's a hard adjustment for me, but I do feel more confident going into her first day of school now.