Today was back-to-school for both Jennifer and Jesse. For a few days, I had them on their “school night” routine to get used to the new bedtimes and wake times. Unfortunately, Jennifer has been having a hard time adjusting to this change. She has never been a good sleeper at night, as much as I try to help her sleep better. She keeps waking up in the middle of the night and sometimes it can be hours before she’ll finally doze off. (We’ve set it up for her to be able to read her books in bed before sleeping but this has only helped her to fall asleep, and not to stay asleep.) Still, her time to get up in the morning has to happen whether or not she got enough sleep. I set up a routine for her on school mornings where she can still manage to get a little extra sleep before staying awake for the day.
On the other hand, Jesse is adjusting well. I have found that if he doesn’t nap, he’ll fall asleep earlier and easier at night. Of course this means no break for me – but that’s okay. I grab a nap while he’s in school, even if it’s just a cat nap!
The one thing I dislike about going back to this schedule is having to exercise in the dark, get dressed in the dark, get the kids into the car in the dark. It’s aggravating. This morning, as I was buckling Jesse into his seat, I could hardly see the seatbelts!
And it would be nice to get some extra sleep, too. And NOT have to wake up at 5 a.m. But I have found that if I do, we can all get ready and out the door on time. (Well, usually. The problem is that Jesse takes FOREVER to eat his breakfast.)
Today was Jesse’s first day of going to preschool fulltime. Before today, I was DREADING it! How could I stand being separated from my baby for 7 hours?? HOURS! I just couldn’t imagine it. I kept telling hubby I wanted to change my mind and go back to part-time but he told me, “Just do it.” When I dropped him off, I wasn’t fearful. It was just like the many times I’d dropped him off before. But as the usual time of picking him up came and went, and as I kept missing him more and more, I wanted to run over there, pick him up and say, “Let’s go back to part-time!” My arms literally ached to hug my little baby. It was really, really hard. Even though I was busy with the books and running errands, I still missed him so much. And I was sad to have lunch without him. I did call, but just to let Kim know I had to pick him up earlier than planned. And this was NOT because I missed him so much – it was because his dad wanted to see him before leaving for work. (I did ask about him and she told me he was fine. Phew!)
Jennifer got home from school before Jesse did. I went to pick him up and he was contentedly snacking on graham crackers and milk. I asked about how things had gone, if he’d adjusted okay, etc., etc. Overall, it had gone well. And THANKFULLY he didn’t throw a tantrum when I tried to bring him home – as he had before. I think maybe he was ready to go home. I started to wonder if having him there fulltime had been the secret to stop those “time to go home” fits after all.
We all shared about the first day back at school. Jennifer was happy to see her friends and teacher again. Jesse said he had fun at his own school. And I was glad to get a lot of work done on my book.
I’m glad the day worked out well. Let’s hope the rest of the school year will, too.
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2 comments:
how old is Jesse again? I didnt know he was old enough for preschool I thought he was only 2 or 3? Preschools around here are only for kids 3.5 to 4 yrs old and last only 2.5 hours and even kindergarten is only 3 hours. That was always way more than enough for me!! (My kids are serious scholars too so I know it does not take a huge long day in preschool to create a smart kid with good study habits! If he likes it though, thats great. Our preschools were so expensive with just the 2.5 hours, I cant imagine what 7 hours costs!!
I feel for ya with the sleeping problems. We have the opposite problem, falling asleep is the problem for Isabel, but staying asleep is not, the kid sleeps like a rock.
The first week back at school is hardest! Then they go back to their routine. I keep telling myself that during vacation I should try harder to keep the schedule!
Nancy, you are so right. the first week IS the hardest! Today was better for me getting used to Jesse being in preschool fulltime, though. But still, hubby was thinking maybe we should go back to part-time. I think he's missing Jesse, too. :) Jesse is 3 (will be 3 1/2 in April). We're fortunate that it is not so insanely expensive to have him enrolled fulltime for 3 days a week (as well as part-time on one day). We'll keep working on the sleeping thing. You're so lucky your kids STAY asleep at night! I sure wish Jen did. Jesse is iffy with sleep. Sometimes he wakes up a lot at night, sometimes not.
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