Preschool Makes Me Tired

A few weeks ago I told you about my decision to join a homeschool co-op in lieu of sending Joshua to an actual preschool. He’ll be going on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will have Music, Art, Gym, and Bible classes. Well, the first day was this past Thursday and it wore us all the heck out! Joshua was really excited, and he looked so cute with his new backpack on! (I got it from Jeni at Carabella’s!)

The thing about Joshua attending preschool at a homeschool co-op that is different from “regular” preschool is that I don’t drop him off and go home – I stay there with him (not in his class, though.) All the moms have jobs. Some are teachers, others volunteer in the nursery to keep the younger siblings of the students (which means Sophie can go with us also), some are on the clean-up crew, etc. In the afternoon I am signed up to be the teacher’s assistant for the junior and senior high French classes (oui, oui, je parle un peu de francais). In the morning, I didn’t have an assigned job, but chose to volunteer to work in the nursery after we got there Thursday, because, well…can you guess why?

If you said, “Because Sophie was flipping out and screaming her head off!?” then you are CORRECT! Ding! Ding! Ding! She went ballistic, and there were several other babies and toddlers in the nursery and only two workers, so after three or four minutes of listening to her hysterics from the hallway, I became a nursery volunteer, which I was happy to do. Although Soph was happy to see me, she did not really cheer up and stuck to me like glue for the ensuing two hours.

But back to Joshua. He got just a little bit teary-eyed when I dropped him in his classroom, and again when he caught sight of me in the hallway a few minutes later, but that was mostly for my benefit. He quickly got over it and had fun learning! We were reunited for lunch, after which Sophie and I went to French class. She was soooo tired (she usually naps about 11 or 11:30) and half-hysterical so I didn’t even try the nursery. She was a cranky, fussy distraction during French, but about halfway through the first class (Jr. Hi) I was able to nurse her to sleep. Ever nursed in a class of 10 Jr. High boys? Homeschool boys no less? I think they may have gotten more of an education than their parents were bargaining for! Whoops! After I got her to sleep, she napped on the floor until halfway through the Sr. High French class, so I was actually able to be helpful to the lead teacher that period. Imagine!

By the end of the day, Joshua was so tired, he was a walking zombie. He had a lot of fun though! His favorite class was music, and he brought home two pieces of art and a new plant-in-a-plastic-cup in his backpack. I put Sophie down for a real nap when we got home, then Joshua and I laid down. I got about an hour’s rest, Sophie got two, and Joshua slept for THREE HOURS! Whew! School is HARD!

Next Thursday we do it all again! I am keeping my fingers crossed that Soph will actually stay in the nursery in the p.m. Or maybe I should just decide that this is a good time to teach her French. But no matter what happens, I am happy with my decision. I think Joshua is going to have a great year in Pre-K!