As an at-home dad, I get to experience all of the daily and small wondrous moments with my son – brushing teeth, getting scrapes, riding the bus together and pressing the “stop requested” button, going food-shopping at Fairway together, etc… This week, after a long process of preschool applications, my son embarked on a new moment – attending nursery school.
In year’s past, I recall lots of friends going bonkers on Facebook posting pictures of their children attending the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Was it a lot of hype? Not sure, but I was pressuring my wife the night before Jake’s first day saying that it’s a “special day and you should join me at drop-off because I believe many families will go together and it’s important to our son.” She politely declined as she had an early business meeting, told me that it’s not that important to our son (true), but armed me with the camera – see picture
Upon arriving for the first day of preschool, things were relatively quiet. We found our cubby and unpacked belongings – change of clothes, wipes, picture of mommy and daddy – and walked into the bright and spacious room. My son ambled over to the snack table, settled into a seat, and said “what are we eating today?” His teacher pointed to the sign that read “4 crackers and 2 slices of cheese.” My son carefully selected the biggest crackers (one of them was a double cracker) from the bowl and put them on his plate. Before eating the first one, he asked if he could have more if he finishes it all. What a character!
Needless to say, my son acclimated well to his home on the first day of preschool. For me, it is a bittersweet moment. You see, I have been around at almost all of his proudest and most challenging moments. Now, I will miss some of them. On a positive note, Jake gets to spend quality time in a social setting with a crew of children his own age – that I cannot offer him no matter how much I love him. Plus, even though the word “school” is in preschool … it is all about PLAY! As it should be!
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