Garrett has been going to mother's day out/preschool for the past 3 years, so buying supplies for him is nothing new. But it was different to be buying supplies for 2 kids instead of one. Especially since Cooper will only be 14 months old when he starts going this fall. I waited until Garrett was 2 before I sent him for the first time. But now that I'm working at the church again, I have no other choice but to put him in MDO for 2 days a week (though he may only end up going once a week. We'll see how he does. And how I handle it.)
Now, don't get me wrong. I am not a mom that must be with my kids 24/7. I relish opportunities that will afford me a bit of a break, even going so far as to volunteer to mow our yard when Keith is home in order to have some "me" time on the mower. Yes, I'm weird. But I will admit to some guilt over putting Cooper in "school" so young. I feel like I should wait one more year, but I also keep reminding myself that Garrett was in daycare for the first year of his life, so that basically compensates the amount of time that both will ultimately end up spending away from my care. But I still can't lose the guilty feeling.
Back to supply shopping, I will confess to feeling a bit of a "rush" when getting the supply list for the first time. As well as going up and down the supply aisles at the store. I always loved that part of "back to school" when I was growing up and I even enjoyed it the years that I taught school. Stocking up on crayons for a quarter and notebook paper for a buck was always fun for me.
With the boys going to MDO at our church, we have to buy additional supplies that I would assume are not included on a public school's supply list. Items like rolls of paper towels (4 per child) and boxes of baby wipes (also 4 per child. And these are obviously for clean-up. And dirty diapers.) Throw in things like paper plates, ziplock bags, and kleenex, on top of the usual suspects, we had a bunch of supplies in our cart this morning. And subsequently in a closet for now until Meet the Teacher day in a few weeks.
Garrett wasn't too happy to discover that he wasn't getting a new backpack, but Cooper was. I've tried to get Garrett's backpacks to last for 2 years before buying another one. His current backpack is only a year old, so I told him he would use it again this year and then get a new one when he starts kindergarten. But he did get a new lunchbox. Mostly because I hated the one he had last year. It had 2 compartments, which I did not use because I didn't want to have to worry if Garrett would remember to check the second one at lunchtime. So I would cram all of his food into one compartment just to be sure he got it all.
And on a side note, they really don't have backpacks for little kids. Sure if Cooper was into Cars or Toy Story, I wouldn't have had a problem getting him one, but he's not there yet (and I know it really doesn't matter. But I didn't want Garrett "borrowing" Cooper's). I found one Elmo backpack, but it was tiny. I know the main item that goes into their backpacks is a folder and that backpack wasn't near big enough for one. So we settled on Hot Wheels.
The part that I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around is Cooper taking naps on a nap mat, on the floor, with other 1 and 2 year olds around him. That should be interesting.
1 comment:
I also get a "rush" going and buying supplies, even now when I kind of dread going back to work. This year, since I'm in a better room and I'm actually looking forward to decorating my room, I'm going to take my time and really think things through and plan my room out. I'm also going to get a couple of nicer things that will make my day more enjoyable. Sounds stupid, but having a colorful clipboard as opposed to one of those ugly brown ones, makes using the clipboard more fun! I also like to have fun pens and highlighters and organizational tools for the room.
As for sending Cooper to MDO, I understand the guilt thing since I'm now sending Brooklyn to day care and I never thought I would have to do that. But I really think that if I was in your position, I would do the same thing. In fact, I would probably enroll her in an MDO even if I didn't work at all and stayed home. After spending the summer with her I realize that I just couldn't get anything done without someone watching her and I think the MDO programs are great for socialization and giving the mom time to get stuff done and have some alone time! Don't let the guilt get you down!
Also, tomorrow will be Brooklyn's first day to actually take a nap at the day care and I'm really curious to see how that works since they will be putting her in a crib and only patting her back. She will probably not go down easy at all and I hope she doesn't keep the other kids from napping!
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