One and Done

Isaac and I have always said that we want Grace to go to pre-school.

We feel like she'll learn so much more and have better social skills if she's around kids her own age a couple of times a week.

This would also give my mom a break from watching her every single day.

Plus, who doesn't want to have a few friends to play with, right?

I went for years when I was a kid and absolutely loved it.

Since she's about to turn one, we started looking into them to be sure we chose the right one.

There is a new one called "Leap Into Learning" right next to our office, so we thought that would be perfect.

It seemed nice, clean, and the teachers played a lot with the kids.

We decided that once we get back from Nashville, and her first birthday passes, we will put her in there two days a week.

My mom suggested that we take her for a couple of hours a few times before then to get her used to it.

Tuesday, she got dropped off at 10:30.

My mom took her and said that she cried when she left.

I got off work at noon and went right over to pick her up.

Usually when she sees me, she'll throw her toys and come right over to me with a HUGE smile on her face.

This time, she just held her hand out and started whimpering.

The teacher said she wanted to be held and cried off and on the whole time.

This probably had something to do with the fact that they wanted her in the "baby" room rather than the toddler room for another six months.

She was literally sitting in a room full of tiny babies that can't move and don't have any personality yet.

How is she supposed to learn social skills from them?

I felt so bad.

After this experience, she was super clingy and wouldn't let me put her down.

I took her back to the office and she even screamed when Isaac tried to take her.

That night, we went over to my Grandma and Poppa's for a barbecue.

When they saw how terrified Grace was of me leaving her (she didn't even want anyone else looking at her), they offered to watch her two days a week instead of the whole pre-school idea.

Isaac's mom had also mentioned to me that she would be able to help out on Mondays.

We decided to take them up on their offer and wait another six months to a year on the whole pre-school thing.

I'm so thankful to have so much family nearby that is willing to help out with Grace.

One and done...for at least a few more months until we forget about this experience and decide to try again.