I really believe that preschool makes me a better mom. It provides the perfect amount of time for me to get some errands done and do things for a few hours a week like… think straight. This year, though, the Toddler has been having a hard time transitioning from the young toddler class she was in last year to the 3-year old class, aka “the big girl class.” I knew it was going to be a big jump for her, so over the summer we got on the fast-track with potty training and a few other skills that I thought might help her make the adjustment to a more structured schedule. But, alas, my strategy did not work.
After talking to her teachers I think she does fine in the morning hours, but beginning with lunch {during which she refuses to eat any of the foods that I carefully select for her}, things start going down hill. I think her little mind and body are both over-stimulated and go into shut-down, meltdown mode some time around the noon hour. This is what she looks like within five minutes of getting in the car after pick-up:
So… yesterday I thought it might be best if I picked her up a little earlier than usual in hopes of preventing any excessive afternoon drama. When I got there and saw her wearing a random pair of pink shorts rather than the cropped pants I had sent her in, I knew it had been another eventful day for her {and the staff}. The teacher reported that she had had not one, not two, but three accidents {which explains why I didn’t recognize the shorts; she went through her own back-up outfits and they had to use another child’s back-up}. The sweet teacher, though, said that other than that issue, she was having a great day. She ate her lunch for the first time and hadn’t fussed at all. Hey, two out of three areas of progress… you can’t win them all.
As it turns out, though, the Toddler had just delayed her fussing/major meltdown for later because when we reached the parking she suddenly realized that she would be missing the last trip to the playground with her little class and therefore attempted to dart across the street to the public park. The whole scene ended with her laying prostrate on the grass near the sidewalk screaming for her Lunch Friends teacher while the Preschooler cried along with her because her sister was “hurting her ears with her screams.” We eventually made it home, but it took us about an hour to fully recover.
My plan went so well.
Some days I don’t know what I’m going to do with the Toddler and her emotions {namely her temper}. While the Preschooler has always been high-energy and strong-willed, the Toddler is entertaining and exhausting in new and special ways.
After her big day at preschool, I knew better than to take her to watch soccer last night. So, instead we went to Babies R’ Us where I thought she might like looking around and riding in the buggy with my undivided attention on her. Right. We never made it past the bookshelves at the front where she discovered a story she recognized.
I’ve always heard that young children like repetition, but she takes it to a whole new level.
After our eighth reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the very hungry mom and Toddler left the store to pick the Spouse and the Preschooler up from soccer and get everyone fed and in bed as soon as possible. I think we all just needed to get to sleep and get to a new day.
Thankfully… today is a new day. I am enforcing a big midday nap for both girls. And, even though I think the Toddler might be a contributing factor to some mild fatigue, I am reminding myself just how minor my problems are in light of what they could be. I can handle potty accidents. I can handle meltdowns. I can handle drama. {I think}.
I love these girls. And, I don’t want to wish these days away, long as they may sometimes feel. I’d like to survive them with a little more grace for sure, but I don’t want to miss them.
So, here’s to new days… full of new challenges and full of new opportunities to either miss or seize. And, at this moment when the Preschooler is refusing to take her much needed nap while giving me a litany of reasons why she doesn’t really need one in the first place, I’m telling myself that it’s OK and trying hard to believe…
Good thing. Because the weakness is feeling very real this week.
Leave a Reply