PRESCHOOL

As a parent, one thing I always worry about is dropping my kids of at school on the first day. I mean, like, the very first day.

Caitlin's first day of preschool was probably scarier for me than it was for her. She was my only child at the time, as I did not have Tony and Abby until Kate was 4 years old, and she started preschool at age 3.

Kate seemed excited about it; after all, school was a "big girl" thing in her mind. I put her in the cutest little outfit; a denim skirt, white tights, a cute little shirt, and some sparkly shoes. My daughter has always been very fashionable, and the first day of preschool was no exception.

The entire time we were in the car, she kept reminding me it was her first day of school. She was quite apparently excited. At the door, the friendly preschool teacher introduced herself to us, and Kate immediately ran off to play. I was shocked at how easy it was. My daughter acted so mature, as if she came here every day. As much as I hated to say it, I was slightly hurt that it was no big thing for my daughter to say goodbye to me. There was a slight pang of jealousy to the other parents whose kids clung to them with separation anxiety.

I realized I spoke too soon when, a few short years later, it was Abby and Tony's first day of preschool, and I had a completely different experience.

They had a Disney movie playing in one corner of the room, so getting Tony to go join the other kids was no problem. He heard the word "movie", and he was gone. Abigail, however, wrapped herself around me as if I was leaving her to be eaten alive by a pack of hungry lions. She hates change, and preschool was definitely a big one.

"Abbs," I said, picking her up, "look at Tony making all those new friends! Don't you want to go play with them, too?"

She briefly turned to look, but then buried her face in to my shoulder.

We went through this every day for over a week. The tears and temper-tantrums...it was a fight getting her to stay at school without me. Finally one morning one of Abby's teachers sat down with Abby and me.

"Mrs. Gibbs," she asked me, "What are Abby's favorite things?"

I told her that my daughter loved stuffed animals and science, and that her favorite day of the year was Halloween.

The teacher left the room, and came back about five minutes later. This time, she took Abby by the hand and led her to a table on the left side of the room where she had put a kid's size microscope with a plastic spider under it, a little magnifying glass, and a basket of stuffed animals next to it. After that, it was really never a problem dropping Abby off at preschool. She quickly learned to love it; all it took was a teacher who was willing to work with her.

Thankfully, Timmy was not nearly as challenging. Just as Tony had heard the word "movie" and he was hooked, when Timmy heard the word "computer", he automatically thought preschool was heaven. I warned the preschool teacher that she needed to watch Timmy on the computer, as he liked to get in to stuff he probably shouldn't.

The teacher assured me the computers were child-proof, and all games on them were age appropriate and monitored carefully. I told her she hadn't met Timmy yet.

I am temporarily out of the preschool stage this year, until Ziva starts next fall. I am nervous to see how that goes...she tends to be a bit of a troublemaker, but some things may surprise me.