Early February is when preschools in our area register students for the upcoming school year.
Which means that, right now, I have preschool on the brain.
Kate will begin Kindergarten this August, and that, itself, is a lot to digest. But we also have another big upcoming milestone; my baby is beginning preschool.
Just 5 years and 2 kids into my Mom Gig, and so many long-established parenting-isms have already come to light for me.
For one, I completely understand why First Borns and Onlys have been given the Leader/Responsible One stereotype, and how we, as parents, have unconsciously “encouraged” those behaviors.
Also, I now understand why and how Seconds (or any subsequent kids) tend to get away with a lot of things and often earn privileges sooner than First Borns.
When I first enrolled Kate in preschool 2 years ago, I signed her up for a 2 mornings a week program. She seemed so young to go more often than that, and it was her first time ever being in a group child care environment.
Then when I enrolled Kate for this current school year, I kept her at 2 mornings a week because I wanted her and Maddie to have as much time together as possible in order to bond and play, and just be sisters. I figured that once Kate begins Kindergarten, our lives will forever be dictated by the school calendar, so I might as well keep us as untethered as possible for as long as possible.
But now it’s time for me to make this same decision for Madelyn, and I’ve discovered that my “How Many Mornings Each Week?” answer, and my reasons for it, are completely different.
Last Tuesday, I turned in paperwork for Maddie to attend preschool 3 mornings a week. She will barely be 3 when she starts (whereas Kate was 3.75 when she began preschool), and I have my fingers crossed we’re able to get her potty trained in time.
Our public schools run full-day Kindergarten, so that means Kate will be gone Monday through Friday, with classes starting at 8 a.m. and running until 3 p.m. Maddie has never known life without Kate, and I feel she’ll be happier (and miss her sister less) in a 3 mornings a week program.
If I were an outsider looking in, it would seem rather odd that I chose to put my old-for-her-class child in the most minimum of preschool options, while sending my youngest-in-her-class child as many mornings as possible, right off the bat.
But you know what? It’s different with Baby #2.
Circumstances are different the second time around, and we parents have a different set of considerations to take into account when making parenting decisions like these.
I do think 3 mornings a week is the best scenario for Maddie, and am confident in my choice.
I just wish I was as confident in meeting our potty training deadline.
Have you found that you made different choices for your second child vs. your first?
I actually was the opposite. I stressed over getting my son into preschool and making sure he had plenty of instruction leading up to kindy. With my daughter, I realize all that was overkill and these are the years to enjoy freedom and long days of play and creativity. Instruction will come and stay with them insistently for years. Let them enjoy the pre-school years!
It is so true…with each child we make different choices for different reasons. I think you are making great choices. Now…I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the potty training. L-boy is now officially poop trained. WTH??? He still won’t go pee..he knows exactly when he’s going in his undies/diaper but really doesn’t feel the need to do that on the toilet. Oh well, I’m not missing those poop-ay diapers and the sstench that went along with them!!
Oh, you’ve hit it on the head, girl! I was way more cautious with kid number 1, especially about the number and length of his preschool days! Poor thing, I didn’t want to over-stress him.
Kid number 2? Outta here……but she was so ready, always wanting to catch up to kid number 1.
So I think you’re on the right path, if I must say so myself!
#2- So much easier. You just don’t think about it as much. Sadie will be in Pre-K next year (5 mornings) and so I signed up Tyler for 2 mornings. He will be 2.5 yrs. old and I just can’t bare to send him more yet!
Oh, yes, definitely. Mine are the same spacing as yours so when my oldest started K, my youngest started preschool.
I went in the opposite direction as you – signing the older one for MORE and the younger one up for LESS because he’s my baby…and I’m having a hard time letting him go! Also, they are very different kids with different needs. A balancing act, for sure.
I did the *exact* same thing with my kids. When it was just Ashley, we put her in preschool for the shortest amount of time possible. Then when the boys started to go, we sent them earlier and upped the amount of days. It just made sense based on the circumstances, but I know what you mean that it seems weird to do things differently for your kids.
Oh gosh, something for me to look forward to.
Everything is SO different for the 2nd!
I only have one so far, but I can see how being more laxed with #2 can easily happen.
Gosh, I guess since Lucas will be 2 in June, I better start looking into pre-schools, huh? Oh boy! So much to look forward to…
[...] our relationship, doling out advice and sounding all-knowing while she gets to worry and fret over her baby starting preschool, full-day kindergarten, and [...]