September 10, 2008
Preschool Life
Yesterday my little boy attended his first day of preschool, and he loved it. The morning was beautiful. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and the alarm clock rang out at 8 a.m., announcing it was time to get up.
I tiptoed into the bedroom and laid my eyes upon my sleeping angel. He was exhausted from the Brewers game we took him to the night before. Even though we left in the bottom of the 7th inning (when the Brewers were still winning – they ended up losing 5-4) and he slept the entire drive home, Dawson was tightly curled into his blankets sleeping soundly.
“Doodlebug, it’s time to get up.” I roused him gently and he pulled his covers over his head.
“Mumma, I don’t wanna get up,” he said.
“But, it’s time to go to school!” I tried to feign a cheerful voice. This day would be harder on me than him. I was the one suffering from separation anxiety and I hadn’t even dropped Dawson of at school yet.
Dawson helped me pick out which clothes he was going to wear, and after getting him dressed I urged him eat a small breakfast of strawberries. He had two and then told me he wasn’t hungry. Perhaps it was the First Day of School jitters.
Luckily for me, Doug was off from work yesterday and we took our little boy to school together.
Dawson was adorable wearing his backpack that was stuffed with his school supplies (paint, glue sticks, markers, crackers and a box of tissues).
“Mumma, I’m so ‘cited to go to preschool today.” I couldn’t believe I was hearing those words! He was excited to go to preschool. Perhaps, reading the book “What to Expect at Preschool” every day for a month prepared Dawson for his first day.
When we arrived at school, we put Dawson’s backpack inside his locker and took a picture of him standing in front of it. He was so grown-up looking. I could feel the emotions boiling inside me. I held my tongue and waited patiently for his teacher to open the classroom door.
Thankfully, a few moments later, Ms. Wendy opened the door and welcomed everyone to preschool. I kissed Dawson goodbye and told him I’d see him in a few short hours, then bolted for the door. I didn’t look back, I didn’t wait to see if Dawson was crying.
Once outside, tears streamed down my cheeks and sobs escaped my lips.
“Are you going to be okay?” Doug asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m crying. We dropped him off a fraction of a second ago and I miss him already.”
“It’ll be okay.” Doug said. I knew he was right, but my heart was breaking just a little bit.
The next two hours went by quickly as I distracted myself with work. When I arrived at school, Dawson was outside with his class, playing on the playground. He patiently waited for the other kids to go down the slide first, then took his turn. He didn’t notice that I was standing just outside the fence watching him.
He didn’t say much to the other kids, but he smiled at them as they ran past him. In those few moments, I realized my son is an observer. He loves to watch people. He loves to see all the actions of the world around him.
Ms. Wendy rounded up the class and led them back to the classroom. A trail of moms followed close behind, like paparazzi, snapping photos of their little ones and all the “firsts”.
Back in the classroom the children sang Twinkle Little Star. Hearing 15 little voices in semi-unison was enough to make smiles appear on the faces of the parents peeking into the classroom window.
Then it was time to go, and I asked Dawson what he thought of his first day of school.
“Mommy, it was a-may-zing! I had so much fun. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow.”
In the span of two hours, I went from “Mumma” to “Mommy.” Dawson went from no-longer-a-toddler to full-fledged-preschooler.
We both survived. It’s a-may-zing.
Posted by Dana @ 6:07 AM • The Mommy Files
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September 10th, 2008 at 4:44 PM, Leslie Says:
I can totally relate. Julia started preschool last week and I reacted the same way!
Yay for Dawson! What a big boy!
(P.S. Your blog disappeared from my feed reader! I’m not sure why it did, but I started to wonder about you, thinking you hadn’t been blogging. But here you are – going strong. I’ve re-subscribed. I feel like I missed so much!)
September 10th, 2008 at 6:57 PM, Discipline How To Says:
I just dropped off my youngest for his first day of all day Kindergarten! He has been my buddy for the last 5 years and it gets awfully lonely without him!
Discipline How Tos last blog post..Homeschooling for Preschool
September 11th, 2008 at 10:07 AM, Headless Mom Says:
Cherish these little kid firsts. In no time you’ll be taking him to college to live in his first dorm. Yeouch!
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September 11th, 2008 at 12:34 PM, Liz@thisfullhouse Says:
Good job Dawson (and Mom) what a big boy you are!
Liz@thisfullhouses last blog post..9/11: A Remembrance in Film