To preschool or not to preschool?

Ok it has been awhile since I last wrote but no time like the present to start again. So here goes... I have Gabe signed up for preschool in September. The thought of him going has me equally excited to have some grown up time to work from home (and make some extra money) but it also has me very, very nervous. Questions keep plaguing my thoughts: Is he too young? Is he still too attached? What if he needs me and I'm not there? Am I pushing him into preschool because his friends (and moms) are doing it? Am I doing it for selfish reasons (me time)? My other concern is that it is a German immersion preschool that is completely play based, and completely in German (in preparance for his K-8 German school in our neighborhood). Will he get overly frustrated? Will he feel lonely? What if he needs me? I'm 99% sure that I'm transferring. I mean first, PLENTY of kids learn second languages and they don't feel lonely - they just don't know what the person is talking about at first, simple as that. Also, every time I leave him at a friends house, he never wants to come home. Half the time when I go somewhere without him, he doesn't care if I'm gone. But its the other half that pulls at the heart strings. I mean, he will still be under 3 in September (ok, two months away from being three) but still...am I pushing him to socialize, to become well adjusted, to join the rat-race too soon? These are all questions and concerns coming from a stay-at-home mom, mind you, but he is a stay-at-home kid. We love spending time together, with other friends, but he still likes having me there.

I am torn but we will give it a try. Fortunately, he has two other friends that will be carpooling with us and one will be part of his class so he will never be dropped off alone. He tends to do better in these situations. And I will probably attend the school with him the first couple of times. I am hoping he loves it and looks forward to it each week.

On another note, I am part of a preschool coop where 8 moms and children get together once a week at alternating homes to provide our kids with preschool related tasks, friends, and overall environment. We read stories and sing songs and try to have circle time. The kids are learning to transition from playing to learning time to lunch to playtime. Its a great group of women. I absolutely love being a mom. I think it is amazing how parenthood introduces you to so many things that you cannot possibly experience outside of parenting and so many people that you probably never would have been friends with (or even met for that matter) were it not for kid. The picture below is from the coop preschool. Our theme for the week was bugs (that is what they are looking at). The top picture is of Gabe in a tent at our house with some preschool buddies.