Sending my babies to school

I always knew that the day would come that Kennedy and Zephyr were going to start school but I didn’t know actual how emotional it was going to make me. I don't know if anything really could have prepped me for it. Not to mention that Kennedy was supposed to start preschool in the middle of 2020 and in a pandemic so that was a whole thing on top of her going to school for the first time it was a whole other thing I had to think about. I wanted her to have a normal school experience but what will the restrictions be, will I be able to walk her into her first day of school, back to school nights all of the things that make it a real experience. I checked out and visited 12 different preschools before I finally found where she was going to go and I remember calling Logan on my way home crying because I was so excited I had finally found THE PLACE, my heart and that my gut knew it I had found the place our baby girl was going to go and get outside influence for the first time in her life besides our family and who we chose to be involved in her life. Thats a BIG DEAL.

If you think about it after their first day of going to school everything changes they now have had interaction with the outside world and have their own independence in a way that a mother can only pray is amazing for them and thankfully that’s what happened for Kennedy. We were so blessed and so thankful every single day that she attended preschool mind you she only went two days a week half days from 8 AM to 12 PM because I wanted to wean her a.k.a. also me into the situation. Every single day she would wake up and ask “Do I have school today?” and it just made my heart so happy that she was so excited to go learn, be with friends, socialize, and have an environment that was her own to grow and flourish into the beautiful little girl that she is becoming. Thankfully the school we sent her to was private so as far as the covid pandemic restrictions went they were not as severe as some places that I had visited. They took all the necessary precautions and made the environment so so safe. We got to walk her into her first day of school and every day that she went we would walk her right up to her teacher give her hugs and kisses and sent her on her way for the day which meant the world to us and to her, and then we got to pick her up and see her big smile with how happy she was from a day at school. The whole year that she was at school there was no issues, they never had to shut down due to the pandemic and she got a full normal wonderful experience for preschool.

So when it comes to sending your babies to daycare/preschool I highly suggest looking around and investigating, talking to people, getting recommendations, going in and seeing each and every place for yourself to see what feels right to you, for your kids, your family, and what’s gonna work with your lifestyle with that school. Because there’s literally nothing more important than our youth and how they are raised, where they start school, who they’re learning from. Time at school is going to shape so much of who they become. I won’t say everything was smooth sailing, there were a few kids who were mean and rude, I get it they are 3/4years old learning how to manage and express all their big feelings but I still wanted to protect my baby girl while also giving her the tools and space to fend for herself and start to learn how to navigate those uncomfortable situations that always bound to arise in life. Thankfully Kennedy is so kind and would still show kindness. And on those days that were hard and she came home frustrated or hurt she was able to talk to us and we could work through all those big feelings and give her guidance and let her know she is never alone we will always be there to support her and love her. Years back a man I worked withs daughter started at a new elementary school and he couldn’t stand the way one of the other kids treated his daughter and I remember the stress and worry he expressed to me about how these children could potentially spend all their school years together and you don’t want your child being treated poorly or the wrong influence in their day to day, being bullied, or treated a certain way. Kids can be so mean. The first time something happened with Kennedy at school I instantly remembered that conversation and thought gosh I pray this gets better and that kid was just having an off day, truly that was mostly the case but also I believe we have people placed in our lives like that because they need to learn from us. That little girl who was rude to Kenny is so drawn to Kenny, in a nice way, but I think because she sees Kennys kindness and wants to have that peace and light in her life.

Gosh its just preschool you would think but o no no it is such a big deal in our little munchkins lives and will have a bigger impact than we think on who they are.

Kennedy will be going into Pre-Kidergarten this fall. This is some new class they’ve added since I was in preschool but basically its for 4 year olds who will be going into Kindergarten the following year. My baby, Zephyr will be going for the first time, cue the tears because I don’t know how I’m going to handle this I am already so emotional over it, but he is so ready. Wish us luck for a happy and healthy new school year ahead!

xo

Ty