First Day of School

Today was J's first day of school. I'll admit, I was extremely nervous to see how the day would go. I pictured him panicking and clinging to my leg. I pictured tears, both his and mine, and an agonizing 3 hours as I sadly sat in the parking lot and waited for the day to end. It's amazing to me that the baby I just delivered is now old enough to go to preschool. I blinked and time went by.

I tried my best to prepare him for this day, warning him that mommy would not be staying with him. I got a lot of advice from other people. Most people said to tell him I was going somewhere that he hated. These suggestions were typically the grocery store, the doctor, or the mall. There's just one teensy problem with those suggestions....my kid actually LIKES those places. The grocery store gives away free cookies, the doctor gives you stickers, and the mall is a great place to hide from your mom in the clothes racks, while she has a panic attack. I honestly couldn't think of a single place that he hates to go.

And then it hit me. I'll tell him that we're going to the doctor so O can have shots. I am a genius! What kid wants to go anywhere near shots?!?

So we start the day off in a hurry because, as usual, we're running late. I'm loading the car and I hear the door slam behind me. Crap! I start to run towards it, but I'm too late. I hear that all too distinct "click". I lunge for the doorknob, hoping against hope that I'm wrong. But I'm not wrong. He's definitely locked me out. I start to panic. I'm pounding on the door screaming for him to open it. He's silent on the other side, probably panicked at my crazy sounding voice. I'm yelling, and sobbing, while I picture my poor 2 month old upstairs on my bed. I don't even have my phone with me. How on earth will I get in there?! I start to imagine J terrorizing the house, or worse, climbing onto the counter and playing with knives. I tell him to turn the lock. I did turn it mommy. I tell him to turn it the other way. Somehow this works. I think probably only 20 seconds had elapsed. But it was still the worst 20 seconds I can recall in recent times. I stumble into the house, sobbing at him to NEVER do that again. He's scared, I can tell. But my heart is still racing and that adrenaline still has me freaked out. A quick phone call to the husband confirms that we will, indeed, be storing an extra key in our garage.

Now we're really late.

We pile into the car and head towards school.

Me: Ok J, mommy's going to take you to school and you'll have so much fun!
J: I think I want you to sit in the chair in Ms. Tammie's room and watch me play.
M: No, mommy has to take O to get his shots. You don't want shots do you?

(thoughtful pause)

J: I can come with you and help O get shots. Then you can come to my school with me.
M: No, if you go to the doctor you have to get shots.

(another thoughtful pause)

J: Ok, I'll get some shots.

Shit! Plan backfired. Abort, abort!

I start to backpedal, and tell him that I simply can't stay, but I'll be back soon. I walk him to his classroom. He runs straight for a table with play forks on it. He can't be bothered to give me a hug. In fact, he'll barely look at me. He's too busy talking to Ms. Tammie about these forks. I snap a few quick pictures and bail before he starts to cry.

By 11:40, I'm in the carpool line. I'm the second car. I'm nervous to hear how it went. Surely he sobbed when he realized I was gone. 20 minutes later, when school actually ends, Ms. Tammie walks him out. He's all smiles. There were no tears. He had a blast and even used the potty twice. They painted, went outside, had a snack, read a story, and played.

My big boy did it! And I couldn't be prouder!

Checking out the fish on the way in:


Not even looking at me...see the forks in his hand?


And showing off his very first school art project: