Sweet Memories Friday: Happy Toddler in School!

I had every intention of writing this as a 100% positive post. Toddler is in school and loves it, we’ve been on time for every day the last four weeks, I’ve gotten a nice break while she’s gone and Baby does her morning nap, and unicorns are literally prancing around the living room with me.

NOPE.

This week I just want to scream every f*&^ing obscenity I can. Right now Baby is crying through the monitor – she didn’t nap on Monday morning and she’s not napping now – and we were a few minutes late this morning thanks to post-blizzard slow roads (though we were actually the first there in her class, so still a win for me???), and …

… well, I’m sort of fearing that this briefly blissful chunk of time is now turning into a twice-a-week pain in the ass.

Hmm … yes, we might just be late! But yes, school is great!

Don’t get me wrong: Toddler loves her class and her teacher. Every day she asks if it’s a school day. We waited until we were sure she was ready for school – to leave us for a few hours and play well with others her age and go pee by herself and want to learn about new things – and even though I was a bit nervous for her to start, this is absolutely the right time for her to start pre-preschool.

But let’s be honest: getting one kid to school on time in the morning is tough, and having a baby in the same house (and managing her morning nursing, breakfast, poopy diaper, and napping schedule) makes it feel like I’m a circus ringleader surrounded by elephants running amok. It really tests the limits of my patience and my ability to goad Toddler nicely without straight up yelling in her face.

(And BOY am I tempted when she daydreams over her Cheerios – clock’s a-tickin’ – and just stands there making faces in the mirror instead of washing her hands – holy sh&^ we are gonna be laaaate!) 

And then trying to sing and talk to Baby on the 10-minute car ride home so she doesn’t nap in her carseat and saves up all her tireds for her crib … oy, it is stressful. I mean, not like fighting in Syria stressful, but full-on parent mode stressful.

And then what if this is the end of Baby’s morning nap and she’s ready to do just one nap after lunch??? BOOM! There went our schedule!

I would say all this is worth it for the rare 1.5h of free time I get twice a week, but now I can’t even say that.

I’m a little frustrated/pissed off/annoyed right now … forgive me.

But you know what it is worth? Toddler loving her school! Yes, that is really worth its weight in soggy Cheerios. Listening to her recite bits of the Pledge of Allegiance, sing a line from This Land is Our Land or their morning song, meet me with a big smile and hug at 11:30am, or use a word I know she learned in school … that’s really awesome! I loved school when I was growing up and looked forward to it every day, and it seems like she is so far, too – a sweet memory indeed!