On Labor Day, Jacob & I made a special trip to Target to choose his very own lunch bag to take to school. This was a very important decision. The top contenders were: a bag shaped like a dump truck, 2 different Spiderman bags, and a Lightning McQueen bag. Oh, the decisions. I took the dump truck bag out of the running because it was the most expensive. Jacob nixed the Lightning McQueen bag, so it was down to Spiderman. One of the bags was hideous, so I was really pushing the cool Spiderman bag. My subtle persuasion tactics worked.
That night, I prepared everything we'd need the next morning. You know that feeling you used to get on the first day of school? That pit in your stomach, nervous feeling? That's how I felt. I do realize I'm not the student AND I realize it's only preschool. But that's how I felt. So I fluttered about, busying myself with packing the necessary papers & Pull-Ups (just in case), the requested Latex gloves (in case aforementioned Pull-Up is needed), laid out his first day of school outfit, and packed his lunch.
The next morning, Jacob was so excited. Out of nowhere, he'd say, "Mom! My teachers are Ms. Lisa and Ms. Shari!" He requested a bowl of Cheerios for his 1st day of school breakfast, but seemed more interested in watching the Disney channel than actually ingesting his food.
"Jacob, you need to finish your breakfast so you won't be hungry at school today."
That did the trick. And when he was finished several minutes later, he jumped up (still in his pajamas, mind you), and announced, "OK! I ready for school now!"
I reminded him that he probably wanted to wear actual clothes on his first day. First impressions and all that.
As I was dressing him, he asked, "I go to school all myself?"
Uh-oh. I hope he wasn't going to get scared now. When we first started talking about preschool weeks ago, he told me he wanted ME to be the teacher.
Me: "Yep! All by yourself like a big boy. And there will be other boys and girls. Ms. Shari and Ms. Lisa will be there too. They can't wait to see you!"
Jacob: "I go to school all myself and then you come get me?"
Me: "That's right. Alex & I will come get you when school is done."
Jacob: "OK."
Me: "You're such a big boy."
Jacob: "I know."
Here's my big preschooler a few minutes before we left for school. Doesn't he look so grown up? And handsome, too, I might add.
Aunt Tricia graciously offered to keep Alex as I took Jacob to school. I knew I was in trouble when I was getting teary-eyed while watching him walk around the classroom. He looked so big and grown up. In the packet of papers the teachers gave us during our little orientation the week before, there was information and guidelines about dealing with separation anxiety. I'm pretty sure they were talking about anxiety on the child's part, though. So I dragged out my goodbye for my own sake, and gave him a total of about 4 hugs. As I kneeled down to give him that final hug, he wrapped his arms around my neck and stroked my hair. Of course that made me even more tearful.
But he was such a sport. He told me "bye", and then walked over to a play kitchen beside another little boy. I knew he'd be just fine. After I was finally able to tear myself away from the doorway, I hurried out to the car, and allowed myself a minute or two of crying before driving away.
Once I was back at home, I watched the clock until it was time for me & Alex to pick him up.
When I arrived in the parking lot promptly at 12:45, I saw Ms. Shari holding Jacob's hand and walking him toward our car. I waved, and when he saw me, he got a huge smile on his face and waved back. As he came closer, I noticed his smile gradually fading and becoming a pouty, quivering bottom lip. When he reached me, he hugged me and started to cry.
Me: "Is he alright?"
Ms. Shari: "He had a great day and was happy as can be the entire morning! I think these are tears of joy over seeing his mom!"
I guess he didn't realize how much he missed me until he saw me again. :)
So it was a little hard on us being apart because we've been together every day since June 22, 2005. I'm glad he missed me too. But we got all of that emotion out of our systems on the first day. And while I still sighed a little when I dropped him off on his 2nd day, I didn't cry. I'm happy for him because I know he's learning and socializing with other kids his age. And when he brought home an adorable craft & happily answered questions about his time in school that day, I knew I was really going to like preschool too.
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