Griffin's First Day of Preschool!

 

Well, Tuesday was Griffin's first day of preschool!  He is going two mornings per week...for a few hours both times.  Given our failed foray into soccer, and some apprehension G had about a park district drop-off class, I was nervous.  For a few weeks before school started we talked it up...and bigtime.  And Griffin went from insisting that his teacher would be "yucky" to saying he thought she might be nice.  What really sealed the deal was the preschool open house; we went, we met his teacher and assistant, and he played TRUCKS.  Specifically, he played with a "grab skid steer" (yes, folks this is an actual vehicle - G does NOT misidentify his construction vehicles), an excavator, and a garbage truck.  Therefore, school was a hit.  And they have a sandbox.  Done deal, right?  Kind of.

 

The first morning, as you can see, G was excited.  He wanted to go to "SCHOOL, NOW!"  (A word we do not use in our house, well, anymore, as I am pretty sure he got it from me...but it's now on the "no-no" list, as it is just not mannerly).  So go to school we did.  I took him.  And I sure did have butterflies in my mama tummy.  He was a little shy on the way in...we got there a bit early so he could investigate the halls and his cubby.  He wanted to play right away with the vehicles, but he did listen and instead waited on the carpet.  School supplies were dropped off and permission forms were signed.  And then it was time for parents to leave.  We hugged, and I gave him a kiss and assured him I would be back to pick him up right after school was over (mama wasn't about to miss any of this day)!  And I left the room.  The door shut.  Seconds later I could hear him wailing.  I stood outside the room, out of sight, while another Mom (this was not her first time, by any means) gave the rest of us first-timers the rundown..."You're kid, yeah, he's on the carpet...looking around...not crying yet, though.  Yours?  Playing, no tears.  Mine?  Moaning, but not really crying.  That's good.  Griffin's Mom (they knew this because he had his name on his shirt)...well, you can't move because if you do he will see you.  And he is ANGRY."  That's kind of how it went.  For a few minutes - I could not leave, even if I wanted to (and I didn't) because the path "out" involved going past the doorway window, which, despite his teacher's attempts to distract him, he would not leave.  I could hear him crying.  And my heart physically hurt.  Soon enough I was unable to take any more and asked another experienced Mom if I could take the hall the OTHER way, and somehow get out.  She said yes, and I walked! 

 

 I did some errands, went to the courthouse and did some filing, reviewed some documents, responded to emails....and then drove back to the school.  And I sat in the parking lot.  Counting the minutes.  I had 30 to go.  With 10 minutes remaining I saw another Mom from G's class go in - so I followed and was the first to pick up my little man.  His face was hot from crying, and he melted when he saw me and asked me to hold him.  He told me he was "just a baby guinea pig" (that is what he's been this week) and that I could "not take my car on the road again."  Instead, "mama's car needs to stay here, with me, at school."  He told me that he cried at school, but only "because I love you, mama."  And it never had felt so good to give him a huge bear hug!  Never!

 

So it was rough.  On both of us.  His teacher said he cried on and off, refused snack because he insisted that he "can't take food from strangers," but that it was kind of a domino effect from the other kids crying, it was normal, and it would soon go away.  I worked the afternoon and when I came home G was one CONFIDENT ball of energy.  He was joking, he was outgoing, and I could tell that he had gained a little independence just after one day.  And best of all he said he wanted to GO BACK!

 

And, today, go back he did.  He still cried.  So did I (out of sight of course).  My heart still broke as I drove away, seeing him still in the window.  And, again, I couldn't wait to pick him up.  But he made it, and so did I.  I know it isn't easy, as he is just a little boy tyring to navigate this big world, even with this small start.  But I know he will get there.  And I have never been so proud of him.  Love you, my big, independent boy.



Ms. Asha took this earlier in the week.  Likes: airplanes, muffins and hamburgers.  Loves: horses, dump trucks, crane trucks, Duncan and Grandpa Bill.  (That's right, apparently the rest of us are chopped liver).



Sitting on the carpet on the first day



Sitting by his cubby waiting for the first day...with his backpack.  Soon he will have a NEW backpack courtesy of Grandma Khaki with initials instead of a full name on it...safety first, folks.  :)