And So It Begins...

Today was Noah's first day of Pre-Kindergarten!  I had a few flashbacks to Aaron and Christopher's first days of school, and have decided that it's much, much different on this first day when it's your grandson going rather than your own child.   Of course you still worry that they'll be frightened, or some little catastrophe will happen and set the stage for years of school struggles, but for the most part it was far more fun, and far less stressful going through it as a grandma!

After a rather interesting bedtime ritual last night I wasn't sure what this morning would bring, but Noah literally bounced out of bed, ate a pancake for breakfast, got dressed by himself, brushed his teeth and actually let me comb his hair and wash his face without a single complaint.  We were just about to walk out the door when he spied a band-aid on the counter and grabbed it.  He says "Grandma, I'm going to put this band-aid in my pocket right here just in case I need it today okay?"   I'm trying to suppress a giggle and tell him that would be fine.  Noah has always loved band-aids! He especially loves band-aids with cartoon characters on them, but in a pinch a plain old band-aid works for him just fine. He'll request band-aids for the craziest things, and just recently started to back down when he's been told he doesn't need one if he's not bleeding!! 

Off we went to school, and all the way there he was full of questions for me.  "Do you think I'll have to take a nap at school Grandma? Because if I have to take a nap I really don't want to go."  I convinced him that he wouldn't and then he was on to more questions.  He seems to have saved most of his concerns about going to school for the ride there this morning!  "Where will I put my backpack?"  "How many kids will be there?" and "When you pick me up can we go see my Daddy at work?"  He was very animated, and a little nervous, I could tell, but mostly I think he was just excited.
I was excited too.  All I could think about at work was how he was doing, and what his first school experience was like.  I couldn't wait to go get him.

When he walked out of the school doors he ran to me, gave me a big hug and said "I Wuv School!" 


Whew!  I was so relieved and so happy for him.  I put him in his car seat, got in and we took off.  I learned very quickly that he wasn't going to be forthcoming with a lot of information right away.  He gets annoyed when bombarded with questions, so I knew I would have to listen to his day unfold in phases!  On the way to see his daddy I learned that there were 12 kids in his class (I knew this, but it was so fun that he knew it too!) His teacher was very nice.  Some kids talked a lot.  Some kids were rude.  Some kids were very nice. HE was a very good boy. And he was excited that tomorrow was his turn to take snacks. 
Over the rest of the afternoon my mom and I learned that they read a story, he drew around his hand at some point, he used his crayons but not paint, he thought of an answer to a question that his teacher had asked the class, AND perhaps most importantly, he DID need to use that band-aid today!  Well OF COURSE he did!! 


Happy First Day of School Noah!!  I love you more than life and wish for your years of education to be happy, fun, and a burning desire to always want to learn more!