First Day Of (pre) School

One of the biggest things that scared me about being on my own now is missing out on some of the “firsts” that Benjamin will inevitably encounter while he is spending days with his mom. i will certainly have my share of moments as well, but there will be, without a doubt, some things that i end up missing.

Well, one of those opportunities happened today and to my benefit, it was all me. Through a twist of circumstance, I got to spend a second Sunday in a row with Benjamin. This meant that he was with me this morning… his first day of pre-school.

I knew he was going, but it really didn’t hit me until I was getting him ready this morning that he was actually going to school. I don't think it really hit home for him either. He must have asked half a dozen times if Jaz was coming today. When I replied that she wasn’t, he asked, "Then who will be staying with me?"

I know that he knew school was today, but not sure he realized what was all involved as the two trial days he was accompanied by his grandma and mom the whole time. So it seemed pretty clear that he thought that someone would be staying with him all day. This worried me a bit in that I would have to leave him at some point… how would he react?

As it turns out... Splendidly. That's right, i said "Splendidly"

(Incidentally, though i would have to leave him, i didn't really want to. not only because i love spending time with him but that pre-school seems like about the coolest thing anyone could ever spend a day doing. How does the saying go? Youth is wasted on the young.)

When we got to school, even before we reached the door to his classroom, he found the coat hook he had been assigned last week and took of his coat and hung it up. They had it labeled with a purple pentagon (all the kids have different shapes). We went into the classroom and he pulled out his cubby with the same label and started to empty out his backpack into it. This kid sure does pick up on things in a hurry!

From there he took me on a tour of the classroom and I found out that he really likes the loft area. Really? This from the boy that likes to climb, jump, burrow…, so it did not surprise me at all that he seemed to enjoy the perch high (well, relatively high) above the classroom where he can both have a space to himself as well as survey the land around that is now his domain. We'll call this space, 'Jamland.'

We also found that the space below the loft that had pillows and books. For a brief second he asked me to read him a book but then we decided we should continue with the tour. It was off to the kitchen area. Benjamin loves kitchens and cooking – pretend or real.

We settled in on the “make believe table” where there was a fire truck puzzle. The teacher encouraged us to put it together and Benjamin jumped right in. He spotted a dalmatian on the front of the box and immediately went looking for the dog piece. We found it and while it was a unique piece, it was difficult to connect. We put together some other pieces and he eventually got back to the dalmatian. He was very pleased to have completed the puzzle and was enthusiastic about cleaning it up and putting away, singing the 'clean up' song the whole time - interrupted only when he insisted that I help him clean up as well. As the song goes, "everybody do their share." So i did :)

The teacher suggested another puzzle (btw, it was just the three of us and one other kid in the room at the time). She gave Benjamin the choice of a couple of puzzles. He picked the fish one with Nemo and Marlin. It wasn’t actually Nemo and Marlin, but these days most orange fish end up being Nemo and Marlin.

As they started to get out the pieces I thought it a good opportunity to leave. I didn’t want to – I wanted to stay and play with him all day – but it was a good time to go. He gave me a kiss and said, “bye dad,” and I left.

He was un-phased and I was very proud of him. I, on the other hand, was a little confused on how to react:
I got a little misty.
I debated running back and giving him a big hug.
I thought that maybe I could go by at lunch.
In the end I left, went to work and figured that this was one of those days where it was important for both of us to take that step.

I left happy, proud and with the full realization that my little guy was not as little as he used to be… and that there would be many, many days ahead where I would have to fight holding on or letting him grow. I hope that I can be as brave as he.

What I will miss, and what I would really like to do is to be there to pick him up this evening. I would love to hear all about his day! But alas, today is a day where Deborah gets to pick him up so I will have to wait a couple of days to talk to him about it. Regardless, this morning was mine to experience with my son. My wonderful, amazing son.

Update:
I spoke to the soon to him this evening on the phone. I asked if he had fun today. "Yep" he replied happily. Did you learn anything? "No, just played."

That sounds great to me!