First Day of Playschool

I have spent the last 30 minutes trying to figure out why these photos are loading sideways. I am officially giving up.

Anyway...Charlotte had her first day of playschool yesterday. It's the same thing Jack did: a 1.5 hour class, 2 days per week. It's for 2 - 3.5 year olds, so since Charlotte just had her birthday she's by far the youngest in the class. I would have really preferred to have her start playschool when she was a little older (Jack didn't start until he was almost 3), but there was only 1 opening left in the class for the remainder of the year, so I knew if we waited we'd lose out.

This was Charlotte's very first experience totally on her own. Jack, Sarah, and I dropped her off. It's actually the same location as Jack's preschool so she was familiar with the place. She didn't cry at first because she was so busy playing with toys it didn't really register that we were leaving. But the teachers said about 10 minutes later when she realized what was going on, she started crying and the tears pretty much lasted the entire class. Toward the end when they had a snack, she finally stopped (food cheered her up, no shocker to anyone).

When we picked her up, her face crumpled a bit when she first spotted us. But I'll give her credit, she didn't come screaming and running over to us. She stayed seated in her chair where she was finishing her snack...while the tears started to trickle down her face...clasping hands over my heart now as I'm reliving it.

I'm guessing tomorrow's drop-off at playschool may be "interesting." I don't think Charlotte realizes yet that this wasn't just a one-time thing. We know she'll eventually love school, since she's very social and is very verbally and physically advanced for a 2-year old (in her mother's opinion). This will be a great outlet for her to learn and have fun with other kids. It would be nice if we could fast-forward through her adjustment period, but such is life :)