With a previously untested morning schedule that, somehow, went without a hitch, Elisha started nursery school on Wednesday, while Fliss went back to work for the first time in a year.
I was a bit nervous dropping Elisha off, to be honest, as she’d started teething again the day before, and I didn’t know how she was going to take to being left with strangers. I was worried that she’d have a really bad day and be miserable with her sore gums, and that might spoil the experience and put her off for the following days.
All day long at work I checked and re-checked my phone, waiting for a call that would tell me she’d gone postal and was holding one of the assistants hostage in the milk prep room with a loaded water pistol.
Even though the call never came, I was out of the door and on the way to collect her the moment it was half past five. When I got there I could see her through the window as I waited at the door, and she didn’t look like she’d had a particularly harrowing day. Once I got inside and she saw me, she seemed to understand that it was time to go home, even if she didn’t appear to be elated to see me.
The nursery school lady gave me a bit of paper that outlined what Elisha had been up to during the day – looks like kids these days enjoy playing with blocks and “singing action songs” – whatever they are. The activities had taken it out of her, though, and once she was in her seat in the car she slept all the way home.
Day two was similarly successful, with the new morning routine proving to be much less challenging than it appeared beforehand, and the drop-off and pick-up’s going smoothly. Sadly, when I dropped her off this morning, she started crying when I went to leave, but hopefully she got over it and had fun with the rest of the activities after that.
I’m quite glad she’s dealing with it well, plus the dropping and collecting process makes me feel all grown up and responsible (a false sense of maturity, I suspect!), so that’s an added bonus.