Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Good Start

Today Capt. Adorable had preschool again. I started talking about it yesterday. (We had a playdate with a boy Capt. Adorable really likes and a mama I really like, plus a supercute baby brother.) I mentioned the names of his other friends who go to preschool (they all go to different schools, unfortunately). I mentioned how he was going to have fun and dwelt on the fun things he has already described to me. He was still not that into and mentioned how the school was too far away.

Last night he was playing with his backpack and packed it with stuff to take to school. I saw that as a good sign. This morning, while we were having our morning cuddle in bed, I reminded him that he was going to preschool today. His response was, "the floor is too hard." Of course I had no idea what the significance of the statement might be, so I asked for clarification. He told me that it hurts his butt when they sit down. I told him he should ask the teacher for a pillow, and then suggested that perhaps he could sit on the little sheepskin rug. He was not into either idea.

After breakfast he willingly ran upstairs to get his socks so he could wear his grey shoes. He put them on and then I sat on the floor with him to talk about how we would say goodbye to each other when I took him to school. I told him each step as it would happen (we will get in the car and drive to school. I will hold you in my arms while we sit on the deck and wait for the door to open. I will give you a kiss and a hug and then we will walk inside and I will leave). He cooperated fully and we got to school with enough time to sit together for a few minutes before we had to go inside.

While walking from the parking lot to the door, he said, "I think Miss Teacher and Miss Aide are getting ready for the children to come now." I thought that was a sign of anticipation. While sitting together on the deck, he went through his objections again: "This school is too far away; I want to go to a different school; et cetera." I kept silent (there was a lot going on and he was watching the other children already there and the ones arriving). We were only there for 2-3 minutes and then it was time to go in. I asked him if he could go in by himself or if I should hand him to Miss Teacher. He replied,"You should not hand me to Miss Teacher." Sure enough, we walked in together and he was fine with getting in line to go downstairs (and out to the playground) by himself. I was eager to leave, to get out of his sight; to make sure that the sight of me there did not change his mind and cause him to feel regretful and clingy. However, Miss Teacher wanted to talk to me about a form I had to fill out (later when I looked at it I saw all that I had to do was check all boxes no and then sign it) and she was talking to another mommy and did not seem to be hurrying, so I kissed Capt. Adorable and walked out (he calmly blew me kisses with a smile). She popped out after me quickly, which surprised me because I was so concentrated on getting out of there with a happy child inside...oh well, I think everything turned out alright.

When I picked him up he was once again not the first kid out and was happy to see me, but was also clearly ready to go! It was a little hard to contain him while I filled out the form (quick as the task was), but we got through it without any misbehavior. I wanted to follow Capt. Adorable's lead and leave as quickly as possible, so I got the form filled out and set it on the table and left without waiting for the opportunity to make nice before I left. Hope that was ok!

On the way home Capt. Adorable yelled at me because I told him I did not have money to take him to a restaurant for lunch. (Should post about my attempt to explain household budgetting to someone who cannot add or subtract sometime.) He also told me I was being rude and that I should not ask him about what he did today in response to my questions concerning just that.

After lunch we went to the library to return all our books and sort out a problem. Then we went to a craft store and bought masks and paint and little shiny things to stick on the masks. We have been painting and glueing and having a good time but now it is time for the stuff we've put on already to dry, so we're watching Little Bear for a bit.

Looking forward to another playdate tomorrow!

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