Jack started preschool today, and it wasn't the end of the world! For either of us!
We woke up early and got Sailor dressed and off to school, and I told him he was going to school too. You can't tell Jack about any potentially exciting upcoming events more than half an hour ahead of time, because he will drive you absolutely bonkers about leaving. Now. Hurry up!
Oh, he was thrilled. "Okay, Mama! Get dressed, okay? Jack go school!"
I had to hold him down to wash and dress him because he was such a bundle of excitement he could not (not!) keep still. "I go school, okay? I go SCHOOL!"
Watson went with me to drop him off. We rode the elevator down to the classroom floor, and when we landed at the hall where Jack's class is located, he took off ahead of us (looking like a little red backpack with legs) and yelled back, "C'mon, guys! Follow me!"
He went right inside the room without a backward glance, the teacher promptly shut the little half-door in my face, and that was that. I said, "Bye, Flapjack! I'll see you in a little bit, okay?" He didn't hear me. He was already squatting on the rug playing with the Matchbox cars speedway.
I went to pick him up at 12:30 on the dot (so as not to show up early and seem as pathetic as I really am), and he ran to me and gave me a big hug around the knees. Ms. Stephanie said he'd had a great day. Apparently, he was a little afraid of the really loud noises the tractors were making while adding on to the back of the church (he told her he was scared a few times), so Ms. Stephanie suggested I drive Jack around there so he could see what they look like and maybe ease his fears a bit. We drove to the back of the church to take a good look at the tractors and construction crew, and Jack's only comment was "Awesome!"
H e told me he was scared of those tractors at school, but he also played tractors at school. That's pretty much all the information I got out of him.
We got home and I put him in the highchair with lunch. While he was eating, I unpacked his backpack. He'd made two crafts (a letter "A" with holes for lacing and one piece of yarn pulled crookedly through two of the holes and an alligator coloring sheet with a couple of blue scribbles near the top... I have never seen anything so perfect). There was also a daily report sheet filled out by his teachers. It reported that Jack had a great day, was "excited, happy and adventuresome," loved the playground, had one wet diaper change and " ate a little snack and drank a little juice. "
So we survived. Both of us. And he can't wait to go back. He's in his crib now, sleeping the sleep of one thoroughly happy and exhausted preschooler. I'm on my way to hang his "crafts" on the fridge.
