Starting Preschool - Mommy and Me Preschool Prep

With our Countdown to Baby #2 in full swing and my growing list of To Do items looming, we got down to one of our first and most important orders of business, this morning - preschool! My son just turned 3, and although I have never really felt that I needed him to go to preschool early, I was beginning to see that maybe he needed it. 

Although I love having him around and scheduling tons of activities that we can do out and about together he was asking to go school. As a SAHM we are saving a great deal of money keeping him home, but with a baby sister on the way, it almost seem selfish and unfair to keep him from growing into the next level.

This kid was talking in sentences by the time he was a year old and is beginning to read words on his own. He knows his alphabet, his numbers, dozens of dinosaur names, builds LEGO (big kid LEGO, not the baby stuff!) on his own, and has intelligent questions and observations that basically blow our mind every day. He relishes the time he spends at the interactive story time at the library, is outgoing, fearless, and eagerly enthusiastic about learning and trying new things.

 

The one thing that I feel is holding my little guy back from being successful in a social situation without me by his side is his frustration and aggression towards other children. It has been a long road to get to where we are at, today, and believe me, we have come a very long way, but we are still not where I think we need to be in order for him to navigate interactions with other children on his own. He is at his absolute worst when things don't go his way with another child especially when the other child is the least be aggressive, argumentative, or either tries or succeeds in taking something that my son believes is rightfully his.

  

He is an alpha. He's a leader, not a follower. He is not a doormat. He stands up for what he believes in. He states his position. He claims his space. He is not afraid to fight someone twice his size. He will not give up, give in, or back down.

 

A lot of these dominant traits could be seen as something to be proud of. I could see this little boy doing great things some day in this world, being a great leader, at the very top of the corporate ladder. Or I could see him being an MMA fighter. Probably not one of my first choices, but who says I even have one?!

Our current struggles include him keeping his hands to himself and letting other kids have their turn and play along with him. One of the most difficult things I'm trying to get through to him is letting go of something when another child will not let go, even if he had the item first. If another child engages in a toy tug of war with my son, if the toy doesn't break in half, it will result in a fight. At times I feel like all the coaching in the world is out the window when this little fireball's adrenaline is unleashed.

With all of this said, I could not in good conscience put my son in preschool on his own. Fortunately, we have a great little preschool that we started, today, that has a Mommy and Me preschool prep program. As I expected, he absolutely loved it. He enjoyed every activity, was interested and engaged with the teacher, and was enthusiastic about every little thing down to cleaning up toys he didn't even play with during clean-up time. 

My guy is the sweetest, brightest, and snuggliest little boy I can imagine but make no mistake. He is a boss. I would love for him to be able to thrive in preschool on his own once or twice a week, especially when his baby sister comes along to drain the life out of his Momma. I will always do whatever it takes to the best of my ability, but it can't be Mommy and Me forever. Wish this little dictator good luck!