Today Will went to pre-K for the first time. It's also his first time being away from mama. We tried to talk to him about school beforehand and anytime we mentioned the "s" word he would go into fits screaming, "I don't want to go to school! I want to stay home!" I kept putting off signing him up because I think secretly, I wanted them to tell me they were full, or it was too late. I know he'd probably have a blast, and I'd rather get the I-hate-going-to-school-fits out of the way now, but he's the baby, my last one...and he actually wants to be with me. We all know that doesn't last very long. So, fighting back the sobs, I enrolled him at Ladybird Academy (no relation to Ladybird Johnson).
This morning, I woke him up as usual. Got Helen and him breakfast then drove to the bus stop. He even kept his backpack on the whole time we were waiting for the bus. The bus arrived and as the kids started climbing on, he tried to follow them. I told him that he wasn't going on the bus, not until next year, but that mommy was going to drive him to school. And that's when it all went downhill......once we got in the car, he noticed we weren't turning around to go home, and the screaming began. I'll spare you the gory details but at one point I managed to get him out of the car by saying that I would walk in with him (for pre-K you're supposed to stay in the car line and the teachers take the kids inside from the curb). Once inside I explained to one of the teachers the situation and she said that we could wait until the car line was finished and that I could walk Will to his classroom. Fifteen more minutes of howling "I want to go home!" and we were ready to head inside. As I was helping Will put his shoes back on (he had thrown them off to show me that he wasn't going inside, EVER! he told me, "You know when I say, 'I hate you' I still love you." Awwwwww. OK, no school for you. Let's just stay home and cuddle. j/k. sort of.
I walked him in, met both of his teachers and while Will lined up to wash his hands the teacher explained all of the classroom procedures to me. When she was done, I looked around the room and Will was already sitting on the rug with a bunch of the kids. Mama who? Somewhat relieved and somewhat heavy-hearted I made the walk back to the car...alone. Maybe someday I'll relish the "me time" but for now I'm missing my sidekick. I feel like Batman without Robin or Mermaid Man without Barnacle Boy or...you get the idea. At least it's only until 12:00 PM.
UPDATE: I picked up Will and we have success! He climbed into the car clutching his blue folder and candy from his teacher. As soon as he sat down, I asked about his day and he said he had a great time. "The teacher gave me candy! And we went to the park (playground) and we had popsicles!" I was so happy to hear that he had fun. He was a little disappointed in the candy (Whoppers) "These don't taste good." Luckily, I had his Skittles from yesterday stashed in the car. As the afternoon wore on he shared little tidbits: "I used scissors and didn't cut my fingers. The teacher helped me."
and "If you sneeze on your hands, you can't touch the teacher's things."
Not sure what this was about but "We had to hit the colors. Not the red one only the blue one and the green one." Maybe it was some sort of game? Also, he was on green! And he has a homework sheet to do this weekend. Pre-K + Will = the start of a beautiful friendship.
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Let's hope next week goes as smoothly.)
