Monday, August 2, 2010

School Days

The time has finally arrived. We knew sixteen-and-a-half months ago that this day would come, but I was not prepared. Canon begins his first year in daycare today.
He will be attending Evergreen Presbyterian, a very highly recommended and reputable place. Having said that, I can't quite figure out why I am so worried about it. Several of the teachers I work with sent their children to this very school, and they were all very pleased. Their children were well cared for and well prepared for Kindergarten. I'm so excited that he will be around several other children all day (he could definitely use the social development). Everything will be great, but somehow I just don't feel great.
Maybe we just had too much fun this summer and I hate to see it all end, or maybe I'm just in denial that we've already made it through our planned one year with NaNa (Sharon), and now the three of us have to really grow up. Whatever the case, our summer fantasy is over and reality will have to set in for the next ten months.
This is Canon just before we left for school. He is just too precious!
I promise I dress him in those super cute bubbles and smocked John-Johns, but I have to admit . . . I love the plain old shorts-and-a-golf-shirt look on him.
Of course, I had no idea what to do to make sure he was prepared. I was embarrassed to ask too many questions because it seems like it should be simple, but in the end, I called the daycare office early in the morning just to make sure I had everything I needed. If nothing else, it made me feel a little more comfortable leaving him there. That is, until I actually left him there.
We found his classroom, and I was so relieved to also find that he has too incredibly sweet teachers, "Miss" Tamara and "Miss" Cindy. They were very helpful in helping me get him settled but also eager to get me out of there. They were right. Before I left, Canon was already trying to steal a toy from the only other child in the room, a little girl named Beatrice (one of my favorite names in the whole world no matter how old-fashioned and old lady it is). As I'm watching him take this toy, I am sure that I should be the one that reprimands him for this behavior, but Tamara and Cindy are sure that I should leave quickly. Again, they were right.
I catch Canon's eye as I walk out and wave "Bye, Bye." He immediately starts crying and runs to the door with his arms in the air. I tell him it's ok, then walk away quickly before everyone sees me crying as well. All I can hear is Canon pounding on the door as I walk away. I'm still crying when I get in my car and back out of my parking spot, nearly hitting the car pulling into the spot next to me. And for the next five or six hours, whenever anyone asks me about it, the tears start pouring again. What is wrong with me?!?
Fortunately, one of my fellow third-grade teachers also took her four-year-old to Evergreen that morning, and she left just a minute or two after me. She assured me that Canon had stopped crying when she passed by his room and that one of his teachers was holding and loving on him. God bless her!
Surely tomorrow will be easier.

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