First Day of Preschool!!

Mandy Rose had her first day of preschool today! She has been counting down the days for the last month! Especially after I started school, she always wanted to know how many more days until preschool! Well, today was the day! We chose a preschool that my dear friend, Tonya, used for 2 of her children. In fact, her littlest one was going to go there with Mandy Rose this year, but they decided to move to a different town this past summer. I think Tonya was heart broken about our two little ones not getting to go to school together. She even contemplated driving 45 minutes one way to bring him to this particular school. The teachers talked her out of it. And, she knew that it wasn't practical anyways. Tonya has always spoken very highly of this preschool, so I knew that was where I wanted Mandy Rose to go. It has been open for at least 30 years! At the parent's meeting, I was bowled over by the fact that 8 out of the 10 families that are participating in Mandy Rose's class were alumnae of the preschool themselves! And, now they were sending their children! That speaks volumes about the quality of the school to me!

Pretty little girl in red!

She got tired of all the picture taking! She wanted to go to preschool!

Outside Westwood Preschool! She was so excited!

These are Mandy Rose's teachers, Mrs. Shirley & Mrs. Nelson! They have a sincere love for little ones!

Mandy Rose had a great first day! She had absolutely no issues with my leaving! I had to remind her as she was dashing off to find something fun to do, that Momma still needed a good-bye kiss! Sheesh! Momma likes to be missed a little bit...but it was more like, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Then, when I picked her up they were out on the playground. She saw me, waved, and dashed off for another go at the slide!

There are just 10 kids in Mandy Rose's class, but there is another adoptive kiddo! Isn't that cool? She is from Korea and her parents used the same agency as us. In fact, her mom remembers us from a Holt picnic a couple of years ago before we got our referral! Small world syndrome strikes again! I had planned on donating some adoption themed books to the preschool so that Mandy Rose's family story could be talked about sometimes too. But, especially now that there is another little one with a similar family makeup! I talked with Mrs. Shirley and Mrs. Nelson and they were very open to including that in their curriculum! I have ordered 5 books and I can't wait until they get here and I can give them to the school! I also plan on bringing something to celebrate the Moon Festival and Chinese New Year when they come around! It is great that her teachers are so positive about doing this!

I am really looking forward to all the neat things Mandy Rose is going to learn at preschool. And, the new friends she will make! I am going to be helping out from time to time as a parent helper and that will be cool! It will give me a chance to observe her in that environment. See how she tackles her world on her own!