James’ first day of preschool

Pre-parenthood, I never thought my child would start preschool at just one year old.  Until I had this child.  And realized how important structure is for him.  And how important it is for him to learn to trust other adults than just Mommy and Daddy.  I remember discussing it with Justin when James was about eight months old.  We both had given it a lot of thought that our little baby {and the strong-willed, often dependent personality that he has} would benefit from a part time preschool program at our church.

Monday, August 8, 2011, we wake up.

It’s just like any other morning, except that I start to feel a little sentimental.  Therefore, the TV’s on and a raisin snack is served 15 minutes after breakfast.  I want my baby to be happy and meltdown free before his first day of school.

James slept in a bit so, before I know it we have to get dressed for school.  {And I’m wishing I already had my camera ready to take pictures!}  We comb our teeth and brush our hair.

We love to brush our teeth.  We’re feeling very big boyish today.

While brushing our teeth, we try to start a tradition of taking a picture each year on the first day of school.  In front of the {gated} mantle or in front of the house.

The mantle pose lasted 1.5 seconds.

We kiss our puppy goodbye, because we know we’re going somewhere in the car.

And we do a little dance on the couch.  Just cause.

We get in the car and point out every “tra-truck” and “car”.

I quickly drop off my crying baby.  When I come back three hours later, all the kids are sitting at the table listening to the teachers sing The Wheels on the Bus.  I look around for my baby, and he is the only child being held.  It’s hard to recognize him behind all of his tears and snot.  The teacher said, he was “off and on”, and I replied, “It’ll get better. Thank you.”  His daily report card said he was tired.  I know he wasn’t tired, but they don’t quite know him yet, and maybe “tired” is a euphemism for “horrified”.

When we got in the car, I heard his happy little voice saying “whish whish whish”  with his right arm waving back and forth.  He was singing The Wheels on the Bus “the windshield wipers go swish, swish, swish.  swish, swish, swish.”  I was amazed to hear him sing a song he learned on just the first day of school.

And here’s the kicker.  Other than “off and on tired” and “whish, whish, whish” I have absolutely no idea how his first day of school was.  He was doing a hand motion later in the day with a new word, and I don’t know what in the world It means.  If I could be a fly on any wall, it would be the walls of my child’s preschool.  I trust him completely in the hands of our church.  I couldn’t be more pleased with his new school, classroom, and teacher.  All I’m saying is, his teacher better be prepared for our first parent/teacher conference, because I’ll have some questions!

Baby James, you’ve made us proud once again.  You are one loved little student.  We love you so much.