Benji went to his first day of “big boy” preschool yesterday. It was a half day, so only 9:00 to 11:00, but even so felt like a really big deal… At least for one of us.
Actually, Benji did fabulously: He waited in line, greeted the teacher, and went inside with nary a glance back. He told me beforehand that he wanted to play with the train set, and I could tell he was on a mission. He brought snuggle blanky, his most special, comforting snuggle (our term for comfort/security item), but it ended up in his cubby by the time I got there. When I came to get him and do the picnic with him, he was waiting somewhat patiently in the circle with the other kids, and although he was glad to see me, he really wanted to show me the toys, not get lots of reassuring hugs.
I’m thinking that our experience at Stepping Stones is going to be invaluable here. This new preschool is longer – 9:00 to 12:45 – so probably more tiring (although yesterday he took a long time to fall asleep at nap time, probably because things were SO exciting). But the principle of “mommy always comes back” remains true, and he learned it well during our eight months at Kindering.
So, although Benji wanted to play with the trains, they were actually blocked off for the day with a stop sign. They were “asleep,” apparently, so now he’s really looking forward to them “waking up” next time he goes to school. Very canny of the teachers, not to make all the toys and play areas immediately available. Benji, however, calmly accepted the trains’ unavailability, for which I am grateful.
On another front, Benji is doing great with potty training. I’m expecting some regression or difficulty with starting at school, but at this point he doesn’t have accidents, he goes poo and pee in the potty when he needs to, he holds out when we’re out and waits to go until there’s a potty, and he holds it most naps and nights, and goes in the potty first thing when he gets up. We’re still doing diapers at night, but undies all day, and I’m proud of how well he does. He even went at school, with an unfamiliar adult, when prompted. We are starting to slowly work on getting him doing the other bathroom things – pants and undies up and down himself, wiping himself, washing hands consistently – but he’s doing so well at the hardest part. I’m about to switch from Baby Diaper Service pull-ups to real big boy undies, and we’re almost ready to do undies at night, but I’m waiting to make any changes until we’ve settled in at school. One big change is hard enough.
Finally, in non-Benji news, I’m starting to study for the Series 65 test, which I have to take in the next 100 days or so. I went into it sanguine, but now I’ve gotten into the material a little bit, I’m feeling more exsanguinated. Hopefully I’ll master enough to pass the test. I can see it’s going to be a long, miserable slog shoving all that data into my brain. Ugh.