As I suspected, they love school

I'll end the suspense for you - Sebastian and Collette did great at school today. It turns out that the hardest thing about the first day of preschool was trying to get them to pose for a picture. I see all my twin mom friend's FB pages with their kids standing still, or even hugging!, for their picture. Not mine. Here are my photo-keepsakes from today:

Pretty pathetic. 

Collette is posing but refuses to smile or hold still.  Sebastian refused to stand in front of the door with Collette because he wanted to go in the car but then hurt himself once he was inside the car and cried hysterically for a couple minutes.  He found some matchbox cars to put in his backpack which cheered him up enough for me to get a decent shot (that last one) but, again, no smile.  He is saying "cheese," for what it's worth.

Drop off went well - the director gets them out of the car and Sebastian was fine with it.  Collette was a bit scared and then started to cry but at pick up they told me she calmed down after 5 or so minutes.  And neither of them wanted to leave and go home so I will take that as a good sign.

Now, how long do you think they'll nap??

Better late than never

In case you didn't get your fill of back-to-school blog posts, here is one more.

Yes, the fateful day has finally arrived. Sebastian and Collette start preschool tomorrow. Weeks after everyone else has started school. But its cool. Preschool is serious business and its not to be rushed. We wouldn't want them to burnout on coloring and circle time by Thanksgiving.

And actually, our preschool doesn't technically start tomorrow.  Tomorrow is an hour long orientation for students and parents.  Then Tuesday, Sebastian and Collette will join half of their classmates for 2 hours (instead of 2.5 hours) and skip Thursday so the other half of the class can have their "first" day.  Next week  begins our real first proper week of school.  Oy.  Talk about taking it slow.

I'm 80% excited for them to start and 20% sad.  Well, maybe 90/10.  The fact that there is any sadness surprises me - I was sure I would be one of those moms just barely slowing down and kicking the kids out the minivan sliding door.  But it looks like I won't be because they tried on their little backpacks today (a marketers dream - Thomas and Dora...) and I almost started to cry.  It just seemed so real!

As for the kids, they are confused, mostly.  The thing is, we call their EI playgroup "school" because they have teachers and I leave the room.  So when I tell them they will start school soon, they answer back with all the names of their current EI teachers.  Try as I might to drive home the point that this is a new school with new teachers, it doesn't seem to be sinking in.  But, I guess that's what tomorrow is for.  Funny side note - I asked the twins what they will say to their new teacher and Collette responded with "Happy Birthday!"  I think she'll make a good impression.

I know that they'll love it - its basically a room full of kids and toys.  And snacks.  Really, what's not to love?  But I'm a mom now which means I have a special "worry" hormone going in full force just for instances like these.  I worry that the teachers won't understand them.  I worry they won't make friends.  I worry they'll cry and hate school (despite aforementioned toys and snacks).  I worry that Sebastian will poop every time and I'll have to go change him.  I worry that the teachers will like one twin more than the other.  Or, even worse, dislike them both.  It's weird for me to just leave them in the care of complete strangers, especially after rarely leaving them with sitters - and even then its usually a family member. 

Hopefully, they won't smell my fear.