Back-to-school and learning to breathe again

Most people face this in September, but today was Kieran's first day at 'real' preschool (a non-anal Montessori). The co-op system was fun, but it was more along the lines of a structured playgroup spot than anything else. I spent the time before we left this morning alternating between trying not to cry or throw up (I used to get extremely nervous on the first day of school right through high school), and of course all Kieran had to say was 'Come on, mama, it's time to go to preschool!' ( Come on, come on, let's go! )

Of course I did neither, and chilled out once we went inside. Kieran quickly dumped me, I filled out paperwork and he barely acknowledged my departure. I have to admit I'm glad that the other kids (the school has a maximum of 12 to a teacher & her assistant) were all returning from the regular school year that let out the week before, so he'll have more individual attention in the beginning. He thrives on order & routine even more than I do, so I'm hopeful this will be a good match once he learns how things go there.

Next week I switch my work schedule to be off at 3, both of us finally working at the same time while Kieran's at preschool. I'm so excited about spending more time together as a family and not being so exhausted from caring for Kieran 5 hours straight, then racing off to work for 5 hours straight. Some telecommuting time is juggled in the morning as well, and 10 minutes of commuting while shoving a sandwich in your face for lunch isn't enough downtime for 10 hours of work. I may have given the impression I've had things together and everything is great, but the truth of the matter is this daily schedule plus school has nearly driven me insane since Kieran gave up his morning naptime a few months back. My husband has the easy shift, during his 5 afternoon hours Kieran's asleep for at least 2-2.5 hours.

The weekend was fantastic, we went to Snoqualmie Falls & the zoo where we got to check out Willawong Station. We shared some adult snickers over that one (my husband's middle name is William) but had lots of fun watching several hundred birds suddenly take off and circle overhead several times before settling down again. My icon is of two well-behaved parakeets on my arm. ( These two were not gentle. )

I didn't even realize the irony of the sign in the background until I uploaded our pictures.

It's a match!

Kieran would not stop talking about preschool when my husband put him on the phone, then talking in general (I heard 'fun at preschool!' a lot) while my husband & I were on the phone. The teacher reported he was all smiles and had a great morning, and he was relaxed & eating lunch in the backyard with the other kids when my husband picked him up.

My little baby has grown up. I've finally let go of the working mom guilt that I could never find anyone who could have playdates start earlier than 10:30-11 am and not last through lunch; his social bases are well-covered now.