First Day of School

Today was Ryan's first day back to school. He is enrolled in the 3-year-old preschool program that meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 - 11:30 a.m. Many of his friends from last year are enrolled in his class again this year. And, he has the same teachers that he had last year. Seeing so many familiar faces seemed to help ease his transition back to school.

Dropping him off at school for the first day of school this year was a completely different experience than last year. Last year I was an emotional wreck at the thought of leaving my precious little boy with complete strangers. Mike accompanied us last year in case I was blinded by tears and unable to drive safely. I also had to wear sunglasses so Ryan wouldn't be upset by seeing me cry. I remember sobbing once Ryan was lead into school for the first time. I was sad because until that point I had spent every waking moment with Ryan and had witnessed all of his milestones and touching "mommy moments." Selfishly, I knew that with him in school there would moments that I would not be privvy to; there would be cute, endearing things he said or did that I would never know about. And, I worried that since he was so much younger than his peers (his birthday is one day before the cut-off date of September 1st making him almost a full year younger than some of his classmates) and had limited verbal communication skills, he would be overwhelmed by the school experience. Of course, he thrived at school and his social and communication skills improved tremendously over the course of the year.

Today, Ryan was excited to reconnect with his friends and woke up eager to go to school. Several days prior to his first day when we were pretending to be animal rescuers like Diego, I looked at Ryan and was studdenly struck by how much I've enjoyed spending the summer with him and how much I would miss him once he returned to school. I reminded him that his first day back to school was just days away and that while I was excited for him to make new friends and learn new things, I would miss him. He replied, "Aww, Mommy, me miss you, but my friends are at school and me love my friends too. You come back soon and get me from school right?" I guess it's only a matter of time before he insists that I drop him off a block away from school or walk several paces behind him at the mall!

When we picked him up after school today, the teachers raved about how cute and well behaved Ryan is and said they were amazed at the progress he's made since they last saw him in May. According to his teacher, Ryan not only participated in today's activities but also interacted and conversed with his classmates. As an added benefit of his expanded vocabulary, Ryan is now able to give us an account of what happened during his day.