A Preschool Mommy’s Highs & Lows

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This post is sponsored by La Petite Academy, but all the writer's thoughts and opinions are her own.

Last week my main girl, mi chiquitín, my only daughter started preschool for the first time. I’m sure you’ve seen all the GIFS. Some mamas popping a bottle to celebrate the start of the school year and others mourning with tears and lots of ice cream.

Can I just say that I feel it all? I feel exuberant and devastated at the same time. Do you feel me?

On one hand, this mama that just needs a break, and I feel like I’ve won the lottery with my little one gone from 8-1. Let’s face it, the girl NEVER. STOPS. TALKING. The constant chatter in her adorable squeaky voice is precious and endearing . . . for the first hour and half. Then the cuteness wears off. But when it really gets me is when the stream of conversation turns into song. Not “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or “How Far I’ll Go,” but just the same conversation put to tune. It’s then when I start to lose my cool. So the quietness of the house and the ability to hear my thoughts while I work is a blissful change.

preschool | Albuquerque Moms Blog

On the other hand, I miss her and her cute little self! It’s a big transition in parenting when your child begins to have sections of life that you are not involved in. 

I don’t know who she spoke with as she stood in line to go potty. Or if she struggled to pull her leggings up that are getting too small. I don’t know if she ate her sandwich before the cookie like I’ve taught her. Or if she shared the sand toys on the playground with new friends.

Her world is expanding because of her preschool experience, and I’m not included in part of it and I miss it.

But that’s our job as mom, right? It’s raising kids who will be adults, who will go off into the world, and be okay. (Well, I hope for more than okay. I hope that they will go off into the world and cause change for good.) But we’ll take baby steps and hope that she just shares toys on the playground. Preschool is a first step to raising humans who interact with others well, who are curious and eager to learn, and who are bold and creative. It’s an environment that fosters the very beginning of independence. A place that gives them a taste of the world to come.

Miss Priss is attending La Petite Academy, where they have welcomed her with open arms and smiling faces. Her teachers are kind and wonderful with the kids. And the room is big, bright and open.

On top of it all, I am loving the technology they use! I may not know if she ate her sandwich first, but I do get notified about what and how much she ate along with other updates.  

So when I’m home with my girl this evening I’ll squeeze her a little tighter and a little longer, knowing that she won’t be under my wing forever. And then I will send her off rejoicing the next morning ecstatic that I might be able to make it through my cup of coffee without a reheat.