So many people have asked how Caroline’s first day of fall preschool went and wonder how it compared to the Meet the Teacher day.

Let me say this…

She did not win the Miss Congeniality Award.

Drop off went smoothly with not even a backwards look at me.

I peeked into the room after putting her things in her cubby to find her sitting at the table working with one of the teachers.

Super.

I went on with my day, even managing to go to the noon swim practice.

At 1:55 I showed up at her classroom door to see her playing with some My Little Ponies.

The teacher said, “Caroline, your mom is here.”

Caroline glanced up and saw me.

She stood up, screwed up her face in a mean face, stiffened her arms by her side, and didn’t move.

I smiled at her and said, “Caroline, it’s time to go.”

Thankfully, she walked over to me, still  holding the pony in her hand.

“It’s time to go so we need to leave the pony at school. You can come back tomorrow and play with it.”

Here is when she started to cry mumbling something about taking the pony home.

I reiterated that the pony needed to stay at school but she would be able to play with it again tomorrow.

One of the teachers leaned her head out of the door and said, “She can take it home with her.”

?????

WTF? Are you kidding me lady? We do NOT need to start the precedent of taking home toys everyday from school and let me tell you, one time in Caroline’s mind would mean being able to bring them home everyday.Plus, I have a dog who would likely eat every toy thus making preschool cost $8,000 when factoring in toy replacement fees.

I looked up at her, smiled, and said, “No, we need to leave the toys at school.”

“Caroline, it’s time to go home, I want you to leave the pony.”

“Noooooo.”

“I’m taking the pony out of your hand now, you can play with it tomorrow at school.”

I took the pony.

“I WASN’T FINISHED WITH THAT!      I STILL WANT THAT!” she screamed and I mean SCREAMED.

And with that, I grabbed her stuff and walked out the door while she continued to scream, “I WANT TO STAY. I DON’T WANT TO GO HOME.”

If pick up goes the same today, I am fully expecting a surprise visit from Child Protective Services at my door.

Remember when last year’s teacher described her as, “a pistol? ”

I can only imagine the adjectives being thrown around the break room now.