That time I signed my kids up for Korean preschool

Recently the kids have been, how to put this nicely.... batshit crazy. Lots of screaming. Lots of crying. Lots of timeouts. While we play with friends and get out of the house regularly, I knew these kids needed something more. And I needed a break. So I looked into a Korean preschool that a few friends have used, and after accepting the fact that preschool costs a small fortune, decided that it was more than worth it. As Steve so sweetly said, "Your sanity is worth something." You betcha buddy. It's worth many many thousands of won per month.

Once again, I didn't get one of those Pinterest-worthy photos with a cute sign saying it was their first day of preschool, but I did try to snap a few shots in our (horribly lit) kitchen.

Currently they are scheduled to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-3. This past Thursday was spent in a flurry of activity and neurosis, trying to jam-pack every minute spent apart with productivity. I had my first-ever smash cake session to photograph just an hour after I dropped the kids off. That involved moving all of our living room furniture and rug, vacuuming everything that had been accumulating under said furniture, and taking practice shots of my teddy bear to make sure the lighting was ok. (To-do list: Turn into a nut job. Check!)

I'd love to say that the first drop off was a breeze. But it wasn't. Sam trotted straight off into his classroom, eager to meet new "frans", but Molly noticed that I didn't take off my shoes when everyone else did, and that must mean that I don't plan on staying.... So she clung tight and asked to be held. After asking her a bajillion times if she wanted to go play with the kids/toys/slide, the teacher reached for her and gave me the look like, "It's now or never." So I passed her off and ran out. The door must be made of about 1/2 cm of plywood, because you can hear EVERYTHING going on in there. I stood outside the door to see how long (or IF) Molly would stop screaming. Apparently they thought that seeing Sam might calm her down, so they took her into his classroom. That backfired fairly quickly. He saw her crying, grew concerned, wondered why she was so upset, then realized that I had left. Cue his crying too. And then, cue my crying.

After the waterworks seemed to die down, I wiped my eyes and headed to the car. Didn't take long for me to accept my freedom and bask in it. I photographed the smash cake session (you can see some of the photos on facebook), went and had lunch with Steve (and I um, ATE IT ALL and didn't have to SHARE or pick up food off the FLOOR or wipe anyone's mouth! Or hiney!), hit up the PX, commissary, shoppette (freedom to roam the (one!) booze aisle in peace!), went home, edited photos, marveled at the quiet, then raced off to pick up the kids.

I was met at the door with a grumpier-than-usual Sam, and was told that he didn't nap. (They have them lie on the floor together for an hour.) I was also told that Molly ate more Korean food for lunch than anyone could have imagined (not a surprise), and she napped perfectly. They both said they had fun, and Sam enjoyed "paying wif frans!" I assume drop-off will be rough for Molly for a while, but knowing that she enjoys herself once I'm gone makes it easier (for me, at least). Since Sam didn't nap at all, and Molly only napped for an hour (she still averages 2-2.5 at home), they were both more than a little psycho once we got home. Steve, being the saint that he is, bathed the kids and let me go out to dinner with a friend. My day of freedom was so special- it felt like my birthday.  Amazing things that I did, in no particular order of awesomeness:

• cleaned without distraction
• spoke with adults
• used the bathroom 4 times without spectators
• grocery shopped
• booze shopped
• listened to music in the car without making verbal note of every digger (FYI- there are zillions of diggers here. ZILLIONS.)
• smiled when the gate guard said, "No bayBEEZ tuh-day?" No sirree.
• used the bathroom at the PX (this is kind of epic, folks)
• continued to admire that the house I had previously cleaned was still.... (wait for it)... clean
• ate rice with chopsticks while sitting on the floor of a beef and leaf and wondered whose amazing life I was living (but seriously?!?!?!?!)

All in all, I gotta say, I really really like preschool.