Tomorrow is a big day

Jackson starts PreK in the morning. It is a full-time program through the public school system, which means he will be there for seven hours a day, five times a week. Yikes! They have lots of rules including a strict tardy policy. Double yikes!!

We met Jackson's teacher yesterday, and my initial impression is that she is very nice. As we entered the classroom for orientation, she had Jackson wash his hands to prepare for a snack. She began to show him the proper way but quickly realized she was dealing with a pro :). "Oh, you already know HOW to wash in between your fingers," she exclaimed. And my suddenly shy boy nodded back with a self-conscious smile.

While the kids snacked, we old folk went through the parent handbook together. Did I mention that there are a few rules? Um yeah. But we also talked about the schedule, and the curriculum, and the mission of the program, and I gotta tell ya I'm pretty psyched.

Afterward, we toured the school. And checked out the playground. We had already officially ended our time when Jackson asked if he could play for a while. He tried out a few things and eventually decided to ride one of those springy ducks with a saddle on it. I was excited to see him really get into it while riding because he's usually pretty cautious. I had no sooner had that thought than he started crying and saying that something had hurt his foot. About the same time, I noticed a wasp flying menacingly nearby, as though its nest was being disturbed. I quickly and rather unceremoniously pulled Jackson away from the duck to try to keep him from further harm. I took his sandal off, and sure enough a very small red wound had cropped up on his foot. He did not get what had happened to him, and more than anything that's the part that got me. Crying huge alligator tears, he tried to understand my explanation. "What's sting? What's a wast?" Oh the injustice!

(It reminded me of the only time Jackson had to have blood drawn from his arm. He was chatting with the staff and smiling, completely unaware of what was to come (though I had tried to prepare him), but when the needle stuck him he became really sad, almost as though he felt betrayed. By the way, we returned to that same lab a few months ago during the height of Ella's seizures, and Jackson remembered the needle stick incident that had easily occurred more than six months previous. So yeah, these are things that are not easily forgotten.)

It was not exactly the ending I had envisioned for Jackson's introduction to his new school; though I wanted it to be memorable, I really wasn't angling for trauma. He took it all in stride though--if you could call it that seeing as how he asked me to carry him to the car :). And we got to stop at the grocery store for some benadryl, which by his report tasted like bubble gum. And finally, he agreed that since the teacher would get the spray and get rid of the wast's nest that it would be safe to get on the duck next time.

He spent the remainder of the day asking me questions about wasps and then incorporating the information he learned into the retelling of his tale about getting stung. By the time Chris got home from work last night, Jackson had already practiced on both sets of grandparents, so the story had evolved nicely into quite a lengthy yarn.

Like I said, he starts tomorrow, so I better get to bed. The boys' bedtime started out alright but ended up being a bit of a disaster, hence the just now posting and such. We still managed to pray together, though, which was nice. I've never prayed the my-kid's-going-to-public-school prayer before, but I gotta say it's a bit more fervent than I expected ;). I kid. I kid. Mostly. In all honesty, I am really excited for this opportunity and can't wait to see what's in store for my big boy this year.

It will just be I and Jackson when I drop him off in the morning, which is really great. I hope to have just enough time for pictures but not enough time to disintegrate into a blubbery mess. That's a fine line, you know.

♦