Princeton: Day 1

Well, we survived day 1 at Princeton relatively unscathed.

Here's my big boy just before we left this house this morning.

I'm not gonna lie.  The morning drop-off was pretty brutal.  And I was a little irritated. 

You see, there are 2 separate (but connected via a door) toddler rooms.  Toddler 1 is for the roughly 1 year - 18 month olds.  Toddler 2 is for the roughly 18 month and ups.  Jackson is in toddler 2.  Our trial runs last week were in in toddler 2.  As it turns out, drop-off in the morning for all toddlers is in the toddler 1 room.  Around 8:30 am, when most of the kids have arrived, they break off into their respective rooms and get on with the day.  It makes sense.  By combining the rooms in the wee hours of the morning (they open at 6:30 am after all), they can get by with less teachers but still maintain the proper teacher/child ratio.  I have no problem with this arrangement.  I just didn't know about it.  Our trial runs were always after 8:30 am and no one mentioned this tiny detail to me in any of our interviews/conversations/visits.  Color me annoyed.

I think Jackson was as well because as soon as I realized what was going on and walked him into the toddler 1 room he tightened his grip on my hand.  He had never been in this room before.  And he was scared.

I tried to make it quick.  No sense in prolong the torture for either of us.  So I got him started playing with some cars.  Said a quick "love you, see you after work" and then saw the panic rush over his face.  I scurried out the door as he screamed for me and Miss Kelly tried to console him.  Like I said, brutal.

I expected the first few days would go this way.  And it doesn't help that sometime in the past 3-4 days he's entered his "mommy's boy" phase.  (I have a hunch it is directly related to the Princeton transition, but I could be wrong.)  Anyway, I managed to convince myself he would get through the trauma of the drop-off and become distracted with the other kids and activities in no time. 

My biggest concern was nap time.  Jack's used to sleeping in a pack 'n play in a private room at Miss Holly's.  At Princeton, the kids nap on mats in the classroom.  I have a hard enough time keeping the kid in his crib, I can't imagine him staying still on a mat for 2 hours!  I was worried that without a nap he would be over tired and cranky tomorrow - not a good combo in an already emotional and stressful situation for him.

I called to check in at noon.  Kelly said he was doing really well for his first day.  As expected, he would get distracted with a toy or activity.  Then he would look around the room for me and get upset again.  He cried off and on she said, but certainly not all morning.  She also told me that he was laying quietly on his mat and looked very close to dozing off.  I felt so much better.

I left work a little early and got there at 4:00 to pick him up.  They were playing outside so I watched through the window for a bit.  He was playing with a push toy, perfectly content and acting just like himself.  Yay!  When I went outside one of the teachers said, "Jackson.  Look who's here."  He immediately turned around, started sobbing and toddled over to me.  I smiled and gave him a big hug.  Then I told him he was silly because he wasn't crying when I got there and he didn't need to turn on the tears for mommy.  He stopped immediately.

I got a full report on his day from the teacher, including this awesome summary, which I totally love. (He painted! And played dress up!)

Here he is sitting on the bench outside the center.  No worse for the wear.

He was chatty all the way home.  Scarfed down a massive plate of spaghetti for dinner (I made his favorite - it was a big day, after all) and was in a great mood all night. 

So we survived.  I'm sure tomorrow will be a repeat performance, but I expect it will get easier with each passing day.  And before we know it, this too will just be a memory.