Today marked a new and exciting phase in our eldest's life. Tommy started pre-school! I will post picture later of Tommy proudly sporting his Twins backpack, heading into school looking excited and ready to take on the world. I thought maybe his nerves would get the better of him, but this weekend, he told me, "Mom, Mrs. McDonald will be excited to see me tomorrow!"
This enthusiasm was a change from last week, when before meeting his teacher, he wondered whether she would actually be Ronald McDonald...?
My heart nearly melted to send Tommy away on his new adventure. I don't know who was most excited in the family. John and I were ridiculously proud to note that Tom was the only kid in his class to be able to identify his name on the take-home paper bin and the star name board. Tom was ridiculously proud to unzip his backpack and show us his first art project, a heart proclaiming God's love. Lucy was tickled to have our complete attention for several hours and Jimmy...well, Jimmy actually slept through most of the transition.
As John told me a few weeks ago, once school begins, there's no turning back. I can already hear Tommy telling us, "Oh, this is how Mrs. McDONald says to wash your hands..." or "Miss Amy says we have to wear shoes at the park." No longer are we the only primary influence in Tommy's life. In fact, his teachers' new authority will probably usurp the limited excitement we provide. We'll be replaced.
All this knowledge has whirled through my brain as we've prepared this last week for D-Day. We made the drop-off early, and circled the preschool at 11:15 AM so as not to be too early for the 11:30 pick-up. I needn't have worried too much about being replaced.
It turned out Tommy loved preschool, and also loved sharing his new stage of development with us. He ran into my arms, delighted to chatter with me about the Magic Bean game and the turn-around, turn-around. In his sparkling eyes, I can see that he relives these memories, although he doesn't quite convey the details to me.
Preschool. It's supposed to be a bridge, isn't it? Somehow it seems like he's already crossed over from being our baby.
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