Riley demanded that he have a backpack, too, before we could leave the house.
Dressed in his new blue shoes (that were too big for him only a few weeks ago!), with his scooby doo lunchbox and the spiderman backpack his daddy helped him pick out, my little boy walked into his new classroom, excited! Then when he realized I wasn't going to stay with him, he started getting nervous, tugging at my shirt, saying frantically, "I'm hungry! I'm hungry! Let's go eat". His teacher saw that he was getting nervous and offered to show him the toy trucks. Luckily he took her hand, and fascinated with the trucks, didn't even say anything as he watched me inch out the door a few minutes later.
His teacher put together these baggies for the parents--first day survival kits: "tissues for your tears and [hershey] kisses for your fears". They were really cute, but guess which mama didn't get to use it?
This one! Riley wanted to go to school so badly. He screamed the whole way out of the building, the whole way through the parking lot, the whole time I struggled to buckle him into the carseat, and the whole way home. Then he screamed and cried even louder when we pulled into the garage!
I brought him in the house and plopped him on the couch, gave him some cheezits and juice and put on Sesame Street. After a few minutes, he realized he didn't have to fight anyone off of his snack, he could play with whatever toys he wanted and watch whatever little kids show he wanted on tv. All of a sudden, he got the biggest grin on his face.
I was amazed at what I could get done around the house in 4 hours. At first we kind of sat around like, wow it's quiet in here. Then I did the dishes, worked on some projects, did some ironing, and still had some snuggle-time with Riley. It was wonderful!
When we went to pick James up, Riley was so happy to see his big brother again. James was beaming ear to ear.
Each morning he woke up with a big grin on his face (despite a couple sleepless nights where Riley was sick), ready to go to school. He learned the letter "M" which he pointed out to me in our bedtime stories and told me that the "M" says "mmmmm" about a million times. On Wednesday (day two) he fessed up after we had gotten home that he'd had to sit in time out at the playground for "not listening" and that his "friend with the blue shirt sat in time out with me" and he "wouldn't do it again" (I wanted to hear that last part again--he's never said those words before!). I know it's an adjustment for him, being in this new environment, with new people. He's done really well besides that little blip and proudly told me (and his daddy on the phone that night) that he did not have to go to time out the next day.
His first "homework assignment": the All About Me poster. We pasted pictures onto it and I wrote down his answers for such riveting questions as:
His first "homework assignment": the All About Me poster. We pasted pictures onto it and I wrote down his answers for such riveting questions as:1. What's your favorite color? "Blue"
2. Favorite food? "Macaroni and Cheese" (it was actually "monkey cheese")
3. Who are your friends? "My cousins, Skylar, Evan and Will, my brother and Batman"
4. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A Daddy"
The last question was a lot more complicated than that....I was excited about asking him what he wanted to be, since I realized I'd never asked him before. The conversation went like this:
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
J: [thinking...] A mommy like you!
M: Okay....well, what kind of job would you like to do?
J: [thinks another minute while playing with his trains] A Dani!
Haha!! That clever little stinker thought he'd be more specific as to which mommy he wanted to grow up to be! It was the sweetest thing ever. And by God, if he wants to grow up and be a mommy he'll be the best little mommy there ever was. However...we needed another answer for our Christian school poster questionairre and I didn't know how they'd react to a little boy wanting to grow up to be a "mommy".
Me: [laughing]Well...what about a daddy? Little girls grow up to be mommies and little boys grow up to be daddies.
J: Alriiiiiight [reluctantly], I be a daddy.
So "Daddy" it was. Then I reassured him, if he really wanted to, he could be a mommy. Someday, he'll write a book.
Riley never did fuss again when we dropped James off the other two days of the week. Instead he came home, plopped himself down and started playing with all the toys that James usually hoards to himself (namely the trains). He's loving all the undivided attention and when the boys are reunited after school and naptime, they rough-house and play together like they really missed each other. And I'm a much more productive, calm mama these days.
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