First Day of School

Jack started school today. He was so excited. Stuart took the morning off so we could all go together.

He looks so grown-up standing outside of the school.

When we got to Jack's classroom, he got very shy. He did not want us to leave. School started at 8:30am, and we hung out for awhile.

Here he is showing the teacher that he is 4 years old.

As we neared 9am, we said our good-byes. Jack started to cry. Hard. So, of course, I cried. We left him in his class, with the director helping hold him back as we left. He began to wail. I'm a wreck by this point and Stuart and I go and sit in the lobby of the school and I cry. We can still hear him screaming. One of our neighbors who was dropping off her daughter in the 3 year old class tried to help, so she brought her Cara over to say hello. She thought a familiar face might help. It didn't work. Meanwhile, Stuart and I are still in the lobby listening to Jack cry hysterically. Apparently, Jack was stronger than the director and made a dash for the door to the lobby to look for us. The director asked if I could stay, I agreed. Stuart left to go to work...and I told him I would call when it was clear for me to leave...stupid of us to bring only one car.

At first Jack clung to me, but eventually we convinced him to join the fun. The more involved he got, the more I stepped away, until I was just watching from the doorway. I thought snack-time would be the perfect time to leave. As they moved to the lunch room for snack, Jack grabbed me from the door to make sure I came with him. As they began to eat, I told him I was going to leave. His eyes began to well up with tears again. Luckily, he has an awesome teacher. She called him over to tell him a secret. After she told him, of course, he came and told me...they were going to make a surprise present for their parents today. Jack asked what the surprise was, she cleverly said she couldn't tell him while I was there because then it wouldn't be a surprise. That is when I jumped in and said if he wanted to stay and find out what the surprise was, he would have to tell me "good-bye" and "see you later." He promptly said "good-bye mom...see you later" and then gave me a hug. I left without looking back and called Stuart when I got to the lobby. It was after 10am.

The director and teacher assured me he was fine the rest of the day. What a day! When I picked Jack up at 2:30pm, he excitedly told me about his day. We then went home and had ice cream.

He does say that he wants to go back. I guess that is a good sign.

P.S. While I was there, one little girl fell and hurt her knee. She came and showed me her injury. Jack promptly knelt down and kissed her knee to make it better. Man, I love this kid!