In all the excitement of Keana starting first grade, I don’t want to lose sight of what Maia’s been dealing with this week: her second year in preschool. Last year was a bit of a roller coaster. She was almost three when she started, which felt a little young, and some days were easy, but almost an equal amount were hard. Even in May there were some mornings she just did not want to go. We left her anyway, two days a week, and there was the occasional day we had to peel her off and just head straight out the door, hoping her sadness at our departure would quickly fade once we left.

We began this year hoping it would be easier now that she was older and knew what to expect. In some ways things are definitely better. Both Tuesday and today she started out excited about going; excited about the process of getting ready for school, picking out what to wear, packing her lunch, etc., but once it came to us leaving her there, she got very sad. But on Tuesday, she came home exclaiming, “Daddy, I love school now!” and then basically the same today. So it is similar to last year, but one thing she’s warmed up to is playing with friends which makes a big difference I think. I got the impression that much of last year she played by herself or with minimal interaction with her friends at school. By the end of last year, she had definitely made a couple friends she hung out with, but nothing solid. This year, two friends in particular are pretty close, and I can tell it’s much easier and more fun for her to really play with them and she feels more comfortable in the school environment.

The first week is almost done and we’ve survived. There is a lot going on for each kid and it is amazing to see how much growth Maia (and the other two) have had over the summer. I think we’re all really feeling the lag of shaking off the free-for-all of summer, and I think Maia will really settle in this year. Of course she will always be different than her more happy-go-lucky sisters, but I think as Maia matures, all these social things outside of the home will get easier and easier.