First Day of School

Yesterday was a big day at our house...Levi's first day of school. Leading up to the big day, he expressed nothing but excitement. He has lots of little friends in his class - many of the same boys who were in his preschool class last year and many friends from church. His new preschool classroom is also the same room he's in for Sunday school so I expected nothing but excitement.

As we were getting ready yesterday morning, it suddenly occurred to Levi that he was going to be at school and Ben would be left at home with all their toys. He was not happy about that. For a while he insisted that Ben go to school also. When he was convinced that this wouldn't happen, he began to hide toys and put things up high to where he thought Ben wouldn't be able to reach them. Levi instructed me as to what Ben could play with and then suggested to me that Ben and I just watch videos and not play in the playroom. I'm not sure if this is typical firstborn behavior or just a sign of his 4-year old selfishness. We've got a lot to work on around here.

After Levi finished roping off the house, we left for school. Here's a picture in our driveway. As you can tell, he was not at all excited about getting his picture taken...

And here he is when we arrived at school. He was a bit more cooperative for a picture. (I hid the name of the preschool to protect my little guy from any sickos out there.)

We walked into the building and right as we walked up to the entrance to his classroom, Levi's eyes began to fill up with tears, and he held onto me for dear life. I was completely shocked. I attempted to calm him down and pointed out all of his friends who were playing happily in the room. He didn't care. As I carried him into the room, he began to scream, "Mommy, don't leave me!" I wasn't at all prepared for this so I wasn't sure what to do. The preschool director kindly told me that I needed to just walk away and leave him. That's not easy to do to a 4-year old! As I drove away my heart was pounding but it was only about 2 minutes later when the director called me to report that Levi was as happy as could be - laughing and playing with all the kids. That little stinker!

When I picked him up yesterday afternoon he was more excited than I've seen him in a long time. He was absolutely beaming and talked all the way home about the songs they sang, the kids in his class, the rules they created for the classroom, his lunch (specifically about the cheetos that 2 of the boys had in their lunch and he really wanted), etc. I told him it was okay that he cried a little bit but asked why he got so upset. Levi responded in a very matter-of-fact way and said, "Mommy, I just wanted you to be my teacher!"

As each year goes by more and more quickly, I am realizing that my time at home with the boys is so short. It will be soon that someone else is getting the majority of their days. These first few years are so critical, and I love that God has given me the ability to be at home with them. As difficult as it is, I wouldn't trade it for anything as I know that soon I will say good-bye to them in the morning and send them off to school where they will be influenced by so many other people. This house will be a lot quieter during those years so for now, I'll take the loudness. We definitely have enough of it!

It was just the first day of Levi's second year of preschool, but for this mom, it's another milestone. And for Ben it's now two days a week that he gets to be king of the house. But, shhh...don't tell Levi. He thinks we're just sitting around watching television.