Rachel Goes to School

Okay, as promised...Rachel enters preschool. From all accounts, she has made a flawless transition from being the only child at home (besides me) to one of 12 in a classroom.
She attends Monday, Wednesday and Friday...9:30 a.m. to 3 on Monday, 9:30 to 1:30 Wednesday and Friday. She gets to play ball and listen to creative storytelling on Monday, which is why that day is longer. The school is across the street from where daddy works, so daddy and daughter cruise down the HOV lane and taunt people stuck on the rest of the road because the one east-west highway that intersects our north-south route always seems to back up traffic on our freeway for little or no reason. That and the nimrods who discover they need to be about four lanes over approximately 17 inches from the exit ramp.
Anyway, the school is the Early Learning Center at our Temple and while they discuss the Sabbath on Fridays, I get the impression it is largely secular the rest of the week.
We had planned to get her to bed early the night before the first day of school, but circumstances conspired against us. I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say that I expected to be greeted by a grumpy toddler the next morning, but instead, encountered one eager to attend school.
After a traditional meal of milk and Cheerios...and an effort to drink the milk out of the bowl once the cereal was consumed, it was time to get dressed. Rachel is in the butterfly class and Rebecca found a top and skirt with butterflies on them. Rachel normally eschews socks, but we want her to wear them to school. So as I put on her second sock, I hear her say to the one on her right foot, "Hello sock. My name is Rachel. Would you like to go to school with me today?" It was adorable. Unfortunately, it was one of the few times that morning I wasn't videotaping. The capper were her sneakers ("They're NOT tennis shoes; they are sneakers!") that light up when Rachel steps on them.
We then loaded up her Tigger lunch bag and her Strawberry Shortcake tote and headed in. No backpack for our daughter, she totes her things on wheels like she's trying to catch a flight.
There was no separation anxiety whatsoever. Just like orientation the previous week, she headed in and didn't look back. It took her less than two minutes to find the Little People toys and she had a particular fascination with a plastic cordless drill that shined a red light when you pressed it.
And apparently, she's been looking for studs too. While talking to her today about school, I asked tongue-in-cheek whether she had a boyfriend and she told me "his name is Bennett." I don't know who chased whom, although Rachel has shown no shyness about going after what she likes. Our background check on Bennett should be in next Wednesday.
Anyhow, the night of her first class, the teacher's assistant called us and told her how helpful Rachel was. If someone is crying, she is concerned about what's bothering them. We were also told she helped clean up and put things back where they belong. To which we each replied, "Rachel? The strawberry blonde with all the curls?" We were assured she was the one. Well, there's behavior we haven't seen much at home! Maybe my wife and I should wear masks and disguise our voices in hopes we can get the same results.
And the second day, a note was sent home talking about how well she listened during Play Ball and helped collect all the balls.
I think she's just trying to impress Bennett.