Helping your Preschooler's teacher make the adjustment with your child

Ethan has been having a difficult time going to preschool.  Although he only goes twice a week for 3 hours a day, he still gets apprehensive right before I drop him off.  I read Tracey's advice on sending your child to school with a piece of  "family" with

them, but I began to think about how you can help your preschooler's teacher adjust to your child as well.  I can only imagine how frustrating it can be for a teacher to help all these little children adjust to a new routine, new friends and being without mom or dad during this difficult time.  I moaned to my sister Patience (a former preschool teacher) about how bad I felt that the teacher had to help all these crying children make these adjustments, and she offered the following ideas for showing your child's teacher how much you appreciate their hard work. 

• Write a thank you note.  Everyone likes to get a handwritten note and everyone likes to be appreciated.  Even though it is the teacher's job to watch your child, it is probably one of the toughest jobs in the world and worthy of recognition.  Thanking your child's teacher for hanging in there with your child through the rough times is great encouragement for the teacher to keep on trying with your child. 
• Bake the teacher a pie or cookies.  OK, this might look a little like bribery, but it works.  Love my apple pie, love my child.  I dropped the apple pie off with Ethan and when I came back to pick him up (after his morning without a nap and then off to preschool--a recipe for disaster for the rest of the day), both his teachers told me what an angel he was.  Angel?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But they were just so grateful that I had taken the time to bake the pies that suddenly his occasional crying didn't seem so bad. 
• Go the extra mile for the holidays.  Give your child's preschool teacher something that you might want for the holidays.  Plan ahead (by saving up) and give the gift she will be talking about to all her friends.  Gift certificates to restaurants or gourmet supermarkets are great ideas.  Miss Jo Ann has been a preschool teacher for 16 years and probably has received at least 100 apple paperweights.  Even if you are on a tight budget, remember that this is the person who is a big part of your child's life (and according to my mother-in-law, the only reason my son knows all the animals sounds now and will probably find a cure to cancer--forget all that time I spend with him for the rest of the week).   
• Don't forget to thank the teacher (and to have your child thank his teacher) when you pick your child up at the end of the day.  This helps your child learn to be gracious and appreciative by observing that you as a parent are those things.   Your child's teacher is working on teaching those things at school and will be glad to see that Mom and Dad are encouraging and practicing them at home as well.

Even if your child is hanging on to the hope that this whole "preschool" thing is just a lark and that soon Mom and Dad will give it up and let him stay home instead, showing your child's preschool teacher how much you appreciate all her hard work with your child will encourage her to continue doing such a great job with your baby.  And that might just make the adjustment a little easier.