Preschool (and "the transition")

So, Shaan officially started preschool on August 8th. Which means we have been attending preschool for about 3 weeks now. Let me give you a little update on "the transition"...

Things started off great. The night before preschool Shaan was super excited and picked out what he wanted to wear for his first day:

(Which I promptly put the nix on!!!!)

Instead, we opted for something a little more low key:

(can you tell that little man has mastered the "fake smile???")

First day went better than expected. A little crying here and there but all in all not too bad for the first day.

The second day I got an S.O.S. voicemail from the teacher that my son had been hyperventilating, hysterical, and inconsolable for approximately 30-45 minutes - could I please call her back if he had ever done this with us before or if I had any suggestions on how to calm him down???

Here's the best part of the story - her call came in while I was on the phone with my mom regarding my sister and her son's health (sister got mastitis, baby has been in daycare where 3 of the 6 children in the class have RSV)...well, the call went straight to vm and my phone didn't "notify" me that I had a voicemail as it usually does, so I did not get the message until I was on my way to pick Shaan up (2 hours later).

MOM. OF. THE. YEAR.

As you can probably surmise, after the first day, "the transition" has not been stellar. "The transition" has messed up our sleep schedule, caused that blasted "separation anxiety" to re-appear (just when I thought it was finally gone!!!!), and given my son a new language (called "whining"). I can't tell you how many times a day I have to remind him that I do not speak "whining."

Oh, and after about a week of "the transition," it didn't help that we had this happen at a birthday party:

(ropeburn caused by flipping out of a hammock)

I had another mom tell me that "the transition" usually takes about 6 weeks. Next week is week 4, so we're halfway there...I'm just hoping that "the transition" for Shaan doesn't end up being like "the colic" for Shaan. Evidently, colic is only supposed to last 3 months...for Shaan, colic (or whatever the fussiness was) lasted about 9.

Please, please, please let "the transition" end sooner rather than later (fingers crossed!!!!)

What about your little ones? Anyone else have tikes that struggle with the transition to school/preschool?

Anyone else have any "Mom of the Year" moments they want to share, or think it's just me? :)