1st Day of Pre-School

I have been dreading this day for a long time. I'm just not ready to send my baby to school yet. I thought I'd have another year with her at home. On the flip side a part of me is excited because I know that this is what Tallie really needs. I think that the consistency alone that she will get from being at school five days a week will be incredible. Her teacher seems very nice and experienced. I have heard nothing but good things about her and she won the Buffet award last year, so really what more could I ask for! There are a total of 12 kids in her class, 6 boys and 6 girls. There is only 1 other child that has Autism. There are 2 peer models that have excellent communication and social skills. The rest of the kids have some form of language delay or disability or both. There are also two teacher's aides that are in the classroom the whole time. And today, one of the speech pathologist that had been working with Tallie also was at school to help Tallie transition her first day.
I thought for sure I would cry when I dropped Tallie off this morning, but somehow I managed not to. Tallie didn't cry either and that completely surprised me, in a good way. We took her things and put them in her locker and then went into the classroom, grabbed a puzzle and found Tallie's mat. Her symbol is a heart, kind of like at TAP class her color was pink. Her symbol is on her locker, her mat, her place setting and her chair so she always knows where to go. As soon as we sat down Tallie started working on her puzzle. There were two other girls having a much harder time than Tallie was. One was having a little meltdown on the floor and the other was jumping up and down screaming. I had been fully prepared that Tallie would be the one in meltdown mode so although I felt bad for those girls, I was happy that Tallie seemed to be transitioning okay. I also realized that she may very well be the one doing the screaming tomorrow or the next day or the next day or even right after I left. You just never know what the day is going to bring with a two year old and that goes for any two year old! So Tallie was working on her puzzle and the teacher came over and started working on it with her so I gave her a kiss goodbye and left.
When I came and picked her up when class was over they said that she did great! She didn't cry when I left, but she did a little towards the end. They thought she was just getting a little tired. The teacher said they had gone outside for a little while and Tallie rolled the ball back and forth to her a few times. She said that we could meet again in a few weeks and talk about some of the goals that we have for Tallie. I got a little teary eyed on the way home, I think just because I was so proud of her. She really amazes me every day. I love her so much! My little preschooler! All in all it was a pretty good day.