Big Changes for Little Ones

So we've had lots of changes in the last month - Clara turned 4, Gracie started kindergarten, Clara started preschool, John Michael started music class (the first time in his own class, not just his sisters' classes) and Gracie turned 6!

Some changes have gone smoother than others. While kindergarten is a big change for Gracie, she is really enjoying it. I think her tendency to try and follow everything the teacher says exactly is wearing her out a little bit, but I'm hoping she will start to learn how to sort out which of those things are most important and which are maybe just suggestions that she doesn't neccesarily have to follow.

John Michael was a little confused in his first music class and he seems to be more interested in what all the other kids are doing than the music. Which is really funny considering how excited he is by music. But it has made me realize that he really hasn't spent much time around other children his age. And he still gets to go to his sisters' music class on Tuesday afternoon and that's when he seems to get to focus on the music more (for the 15 minutes that the parents and younger siblings stay in the class).

Clara hasn't had such an easy time with all the transitions. I knew she was worried about turning 4, so I was thankful when we got past that hurdle. And I knew she was a little worried/scared about starting school. But the first day of preschool arrived and she seemed okay, quiet and a little worried, but she wasn't crying and seemed fine when I picked her up. I noticed when I was dropping her off in the mornings that she wouldn't talk to me once we went into her classroom - it was as if she was on overload and couldn't focus on anything else. And she didn't really seem to know what to do with those first 15 minutes of "play" time. She just seemed to stand in the room and look around. I still thought it would get better, but by the third week, nothing had really changed and we were having lots of issues at home. She wanted a sippy cup, she wouldn't dress herself anymore and she was clinging to me at night time and bedtime had become a big fight (and it hadn't been for almost a year or so).

Anyhow, Mike & I talked about it, talked to her teacher, some other teachers, and lots of parents and decided to take her out of preschool for a week and see how it went. She only goes for 3 hours, 3 days a week so missing a week wouldn't be too hard if she went back the following week. Well, we weren't sure how she would react to it, but she was quite happy to not be going to school. When we talked with her about it, we found out that she had been unhappy and hadn't been saying anything. She had wanted to come home while she was at school and she wasn't having much fun. She really only liked the work, not the playtime. So even though she seemed okay with staying at home, we knew that actually staying at home with me and JM and dropping Gracie off in the mornings would be the real test.

That was last week and it all went well. She's much happier with the stress of school removed. We don't want to teach her to quit, but we also know that she's only 4 and everything we were seeing at home said this was too big a step for her right now.

So, we'll wait to start her in preschool next year, when she will be better able to handle it. For now, we are going to let her take Little Gym dance class. She really wanted to do this and we think it will be a good chance for her to do something on her own. She has never really gotten to do something that Gracie hasn't previously done and this will be all her own thing.

Hopefully that is the last of the big changes around here for awhile. I think we are all worn out!!