"He's only two! How can he be in school?" you ask.
Technically, it's a Mother's Day Out program that is only two half-days per week, but it is a structured learning environment and it is held at a private Christian school. And my baby leaves me twice a week to go learn something and develop his social skills - and that qualifies as school in my book. We got our first book fair catalog today and we have days that we have to bring healthy snacks for the entire class - more indicators that this is, in fact, school. And on the snacks note - in these modern times they eat healthy snacks, no cupcakes and candy like we had when I was a kid. If I were Rocco I would be bummed about that. Sweets are saved for special events like birthday parties. Blah. Bring on the cake!
Days 1 and 2 went pretty much as expected - Mom pretended to not have anxiety all the way there and the boy had a meltdown as soon as he figured out that Mom and Nana would not be staying to learn and play with him. I usually give him 2-5 minutes of adjustment time, tell him I love him, smile and tell him how much fun he's going to have, then slink out the door like a troll while my baby screams my name. I do not stop at the end of the hallway to see if he will stop crying. I do not want to hear my baby wailing for me from down the hall. I just go to the car and then find something to do to keep myself busy for the next three hours. The school is about 35 minutes from our house, so it doesn't really make sense to drive back home and then come back to get him. Today, I detailed my car, which my dude said was dumb because as soon as I drive home tonight it will be dirty again. Maybe so, but I can pretend to be fancy with a shiny, clean, freshly Armor All-ed princess carriage for a few short hours. Excuse me as I straighten my tiara and show off my yoga pants.
The boy and I are both adjusting to this new lifestyle. I know that this is an important step for him and it's good for him. The teachers said his meltdowns have lasted about 30 minutes, but then he's fine. He was actually sitting still and paying attention to story time when we picked him up. Yay!! I know someone whose child (like Rocco) has never gone to daycare, and now he's in Pre-K and is struggling because he doesn't have any social skills. I don't want that to be our boy. I'd rather overcome this hurdle now, when he's two, than to wait until he's four or five and the problem be bigger and harder to overcome. So, we're both toughing it out. However, he was quite peeved with me when I picked him up the first day. No kisses. No hugs. No holding my hand. An emphatic, "NO!" as he pulled away and gave me the stink eye was all I got. Hello, attitude.
One bummer about school is that it interrupts our mornings with PBS. Tragically, I missed Dinosaur Train, Signing Time, Peg + Cat, and Thomas & Friends. However, I am still randomly singing all of the theme songs. Sometimes in my head. Sometimes out loud. #PBSrocks
