School Daze

First off, let me make a confession. Even after James was born, I thought when people used the word "school" about their children's daycare, it was a way of making themselves feel better and that they weren't really fooling me.

Well, guess what... I totally have been saying "James's school." So, sorry people. I get it now.

I will say, lending to my semantics, is that fact that his daycare is actually housed in a school and part of a school district. (This was one of the selling factors to me.) It follows the school year calendar, and you only have to sign a 10 month (Sept.-June) contract. James gets to be home with me in the summer and not lose his spot for the fall.

Today was his first "trial run."

Last night, as we were completing the packet o' paperwork, Dan & I both freaked out. Did we really want to do this? Should I have given up my tenure and stayed home? I mean, I really love being home with him. It has been AWESOME. Especially now that he's talking so much and we go on so many fun adventures. Of course, now that school is just over two weeks away, I'm going back. The 60-day notice period is long gone. So, basically, I couldn't sleep last night. I stayed in bed for half an hour, wide awake. Then I got up, watched TV, read a magazine. Finally got to sleep around 12:45...

So, we woke up feeling a bit better.

James and I headed into his classroom just after 9. He was thrilled to see the ceiling fans. And the other toddlers. Then he heard a "moo." He looked at me and said "Moo. Cow." and headed off to the source of the noise-- the puzzle table. The farm animals make sounds when you put the pieces in place. AND there was a train/truck puzzle. That was it. He was good to go. So I did.

I headed to do a bit of work in my classroom in my school. My cell rang about 30-45 minutes later. Surge o' adrenaline. No need to fear, they were just checking to see if James has any allergies because it was snack time. And they let me know he was doing "GREAT."

I picked him up at almost 11. He was sitting in a little chair (all the kiddos were) for music time. He didn't jump up out of his seat to see me although he did say, "Mommy!" They asked me if he'd been in daycare before because he did so well. YEA!!

That certainly helped me feel better about it all.

And, of course, if there's another Bambino who comes along, I can take more time off to stay with both of them!