First day of school

Yesterday was Fay's first day of nursery school. She went for a 1/2 day, from 8:30 to 12:30 so that she can begin to get used to the new environment and teachers.

It was a pretty emotional day. And it was about as difficult as I expected. I think. I'm not really sure what I expected, but I was dreading the day.

I was able to spend about 15 minutes in the classroom with Fay when I dropped her off so she could get used to the room and feel comfortable. She really did seem comfortable almost immediately. She was checking out the toys and books, and she found a nice little chair to sit in. But when it was time for me to leave, she didn't want me to. She cried, and asked to get picked up. And when I finally headed for the door she moved so quickly and silently behind me...I didn't even know she was there when she tried to step out of the gate directly behind me. I think she thought she may go unnoticed if she was quiet enough. It was pretty cute.

I was ok, with the crying when I left. I expected that. The hard part was when I picked her up, I saw her before she saw me. She had a look of confusion and maybe unhappiness, and when she saw me she burst out with "mommy!". As in...."Mommy, thank God you're here!"

The teacher said that she only cried when I left and at lunch. She did not like the food they served her and threw a little tantrum. She went over to the bookshelf and started throwing books off. The teacher asked me "Does she do this at home?". "NO!, she might throw down a toy she has in her hands if she's mad, but she doesn't seek out things to destroy". I told the teacher I thought she must have been *really* *really* mad.

And I asked the teacher if Fay played with the other kids. She said no, mostly she was clinging to the teacher.

It was the first day, so I'm not going to put too much emphasis on it as far as evaluating if Fay likes the school. The reason we have her there is because we really think she would like being in a stimulating, playful environment all day with other kids. So I hope she starts to interact with the other kids, but I know it will take a little time.

And I brought a lunch for her today, so that if she was starving and mad yesterday, at least we can eliminate the starving part.