Chuckled

Today was Ro-dog's first day of school. Can you believe it? Oh yeah, it happened alright. This morning he practically rolled out of bed discussing the possibility that he might become a little sad at school. This went on for a good hour before we hit a break through.

Rowan: I might be sad when I go to school and you're not there.
Me: Well, that's okay. But maybe you'll be having so much fun you won't notice I'm not there.

(Repeat the above exchange for about 60 minutes but with about 100 different ways of saying the same thing). Until finally the boy comes up with something new.

Rowan: How long will I be at school?
Me: Not that long. You'll come back and have quiet time with Heath and then we'll still have time to go to the beach!
Rowan: Will I be gone half the day?
Me: Not even. Less than half the day.
Rowan: Oh! Well I can do that!
Me: I know you can! It's going to be great!

Whew! He had me worried for a while there that he might have a meltdown with the way the morning dialog was surrounding how sad he was going to be. Disaster averted! He seemed fine as we drove to the school. The kid even came up with a new word to describe his excitement about the development of attending a school so close to our home. See if you can catch the phrase from the video below:

All was well until it was time to hang up his coat and back pack in his new little cubby. That's when he began to cling a bit closer to me and insist that I not leave just yet. When I couldn't convince him to go play with some of the other kids at the "water table!" or "how bout the play kitchen! Look at all the kids playing with fruit and pans!"...he wanted none of it. His final request was that we "please hug and kiss goodbye out by the car". Nice try kid. I did feel pretty bad for the little guy when he melted into tears and had to be torn away from my legs.

I have to admit my heart was breaking a wee bit. But I came prepared to do what I myself have told other parents of pre-schoolers to do. It's like ripping off a band-aid, rip it off quick and it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as when you fool yourself that slowly pulling the awful thing off is somehow better. So that's what I did. I got the "h" outta there as fast as I could!

Apparently he cried for about 2 minutes and then was off having fun - just like I was hoping he would!

When we got home this is what he had to say about things (his answers are a little hard to hear, so turn up your volume):

Hooray Rowan! You're off to a great start. And I'm just a little bit chuckled about it.