Elena and Extend the Day

Today was a little bit of a difficult day for me. Not for Elena or Maren, of course! Not anything that I should freak about, but it was still a first! Elena starting preschool last fall was a huge transition. A very difficult transition and it took a long time for her to be comfortable there. In the last few months she has still been telling me that she does not want to go to school, that she wants to stay home with me and Maren. However, last week Michael's mom told me that she was planning to enroll him in the Extend the Day program where the kids go to the basement and play in the mat room, have lunch, do a craft and then play in the dance room with Ms. Debbie after her morning preschool is finished. I told Elena about this when she asked me what we were talking about. Ever since then, she has been asking to go, too. I told her I would talk to Kirk. She did not forget. She did not forget that it was Wednesdays. She told me this morning that Papa said that it was ok. She got herself ready for school in record time. Socks, shoes, coat and all. She had made her own sandwich when I came downstairs from getting dressed. She packed it in her backpack and even helped Maren get her coat. She got in the car and buckled herself in. These are all things that she usually needs a lot of coaxing to do... getting out the door is not easy in the mornings.

Today she was ready

Not always easy to get pictures of Elena as she is rarely still so this is a little fuzzy.

But I was in awe.

Once we got to preschool she told Miss Diane that she was doing the afternoon class. Maren got in the sand table and it took me awhile to get her to leave. When I did, I told her to tell Ms. Kristie and Ms. Diane goodbye, and she turned around and told each of them separately, goodbye. Ms. Diane says she is ready for preschool and it would seem so!

Maren playing allowed me to watch Elena a little bit. She sat right down next to Michael at a craft table and started coloring. Kailey, another little girl in her class, asked her, "Can you write your name, Lanie?" "Yes. See." Elena picks up a marker and writes her name. She has been working on her name for a while and she asked me two days ago if I would help her with her "Ns". So we worked on it for about five minutes yesterday and she sat right down this morning and wrote this.

Once we got home, she seemed to go back and forth about whether or not she liked the afternoon program. She asked if I could stay with her next time, she asked if I could come back and walk her to the basement, she asked if she could bring her lunch in her cupcake purse next time. She asked if I signed her up for next week. She said she did not want to go back because there are too many kids in the class. (There are several kids from a 4-5 year old class, too.) She said going to school was the best part of her day today. She has actually said that for the last week-and-a-half. (We usually ask each other at dinnertime what were the best and least favorite parts of our days.) Overall, I think she likes it. And if Michael starts going, she will be all-in!

I have to mention a few more funny things she said to me today. First, this morning she asked me why she does not have a pretty name like Maren. "I want my name to be Maren." I am not sure where this is coming from and she brought it up again tonight at bedtime. I told her that she has a beautiful name and that I chose her name for her long before she was born. I also told her what her name means: Light. She stopped talking about it, but I remember many of the names that I wished I had, too. But it did not begin at age 4!

Another thing she has stated a few times lately is: "I have 3 Es, 2 Ns, 2 As and 2 Ls in my name." She is taking "Lanie" and "Elena" and counting the letters. Where this came from, I do not know. But it amazed me.

Tonight at bedtime, I was laying next to Elena in her bed and she kept asking for the little ladybug that lights up. She and Maren take turns keeping it for the night. Elena: "Why does Maren have the ladybug?" (She knew it was her turn.) "Because you have me." "Oh." I cannot get in bed with Maren; she is still in her crib. "But, Mom, you don't light up." I laaaaughed. She giiiiiggled. "You are not a ladybug, Mom. You are a people. You are a kid. You don't light up." Oh, LanieBird. You do!