Enrolled

This is from the zoo last March (2007). I LOVE this picture of the two of us! 

And one of my all time favorites...sledding in Flagstaff in February.

So yesterday morning I enrolled this sweet little guy, my baby, in preschool. I look at him and I honestly can not believe how quickly the last three and half years with him have FLOWN by. I remember VIVIDLY the night I was in labor and the drive to the hospital. I remember when he was four days old and had jaundice and had to be put on the bili-light how much I cried...how overwhelming those first days home with a new baby were. I remember his first hair cut, his first Christmas (in a Santa Suit!)...SO many firsts. Yesterday was another one of those firsts. Enrollment in his first school.

I cried...I won't lie. We drove up and he was SO excited about the "school house" as he calls it. He marched into the office and when asked his name, he replied. Then of course, he followed up with his last name, his age and sissy's name and age. Can't leave her out, ya know?! And oh yeah, "That's my mommy." (the afterthought!!)

Anyway, we peeped into a couple of classrooms as the leader of the school who was giving us our little tour. She told Huntler he could go on in. So...he did. It was story time and he marched in, found a place in between a couple of kids on the rug and nestled in for story time. That is where I lost it. Tears were pouring down my face as I watched my little guy assert his independence. Heck, tears are streaming down my face again now as I type this!! :) 

OF COURSE I am glad he was excited...I would much rather him not miss me and be happy and carefree than miserable and crying because I had to leave him. But, that doesn't make it any easier to imagine leaving him!! For so long, we have been the ones to shape who he is. We have watched him grow and thrive. In that process, we have grown more than I can even begin to express. It is hard to imagine that once he goes to school next fall, our lives will never be the same. Admittedly, he will only be gone two days a week for three hours each day, but it is just the start of real life. After a couple of years of preschool is kindergarten and then first grade...I am so used to spending my days playing "Hatch Day" (a current make believe game around here!), Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, reading stories and watching Noggin that I wonder what I will do with myself once he is in school full time? I mean seriously, I spend 24 hours a day with these munchkins! I know...I am getting ahead of myself here...that is still two years off! And some of you probably think I am being overly dramatic, but I have really been struggling with this.

Several of you know that if it were totally up to me, I would hold off on preschool for one more year...and keep my sweet Huntler home with me and all to myself! However, Chris has strong opinions that he needs to be going next year. And he is right...Huntler obviously LOVED it and he is ready...it is me that isn't. But...I can't be selfish and I have to share him with the world...I know they will love him every bit as much as I do! 

Back to the school...my tears were short-lived as I had to help wrangle the little man in during story time. He is not used to having to SIT for an entire story. And be quiet? Are you kidding?! He likes to narrate along with you as you read! So...while all the other kids were sitting quietly listening to the story, Huntler hopped up and was playing with a kitchen.. Then he was talking - loudly. The teacher had to tell him to be quiet. She of course did it nicely and he listened and sat back down. So then we move on to another classroom...where they were playing. Huntler was on the floor right in the middle of everything...asking if he could share and acting like he had been going to school for weeks!! Needless to say, he did NOT want to leave. He kept saying, "I'll stay mommy, by myself." He wanted to stay...

As hard as it will be for me, taking him to the school and observing his interactions with the other kids and seeing the pure joy in his eyes, I KNOW he is ready and it is time. I still have a few months until school starts up to get myself together. I can pretty much promise though that the day I have to leave him there for the first time, I will be a crying mess.

**I added a new song to the top of the playlist...rather fitting for my thoughts right now!!