First Day Jitters? More like First Day Mayhem...

So the "old pros" of last year must have missed the first day of school memo this time around. And to say Jack and I were more than a little blindsided by it all is quite the understatement! I mean, things seemed to be on the up and up, even though I did notice a few first day jitters coming through from time to time...Jack did wake me up a few days ago saying that he did NOT want to go to school this year and he did ask me quite seriously the other night just how many more years of this school thing he had left. : ) But he woke up this morning in a good mood...excited about how fast he was going to be in his new shoes, pumped about counting school buses on the way there, and really fired up about possibly being line leader or snack helper right out the gate. So with my fears pushed aside and his puppy dog book bag in its rightful place, Jack and I walked hand in hand into his classroom just as we've done many, many times before. We knew the routine...said hi to his teacher, picked out his name to stick on the wall, and then began our little goodbye dance. Now granted that this dance of ours takes quite a while and to the outside observer it might seem a little stagnant, but I was feeling good and thinking that we were definitely making some headway. But then things took a turn and they took a turn fast! Enter a well meaning, but somewhat aggressive teacher who decided that now would be a good time to physically remove Jack from me despite the death grip he now had on my neck. She told me to "just go"but as you might have guessed I refused to do so. : ) I took the now hysterical Jack to the side of the room and began to explain to him yet again that we were going to run some errands, grab some lunch, and that we would be back for him in no time. However, he was too upset by this time and was just repeatedly begging me for one more hug! Enter the same well meaning, but somewhat aggressive teacher who decided that now would be a good time to grab Jack from me once again. This time Jack's death grip was on my hair. Once I untangled myself, I decided that there was nothing that I could do to calm Jack down at this point so despite his wails (and I mean wails) Hayes and I made our exit to the hallway where I began to quietly wail myself. It was awful. And it's totally unlike me to be this dramatic, but I felt like my little guy had been ripped from my womb once again and let me remind you that this time I was anesthesia-less! : ) I was heartbroken and spent the rest of the morning tearfully asking Hayes if he thought Jack was having fun and encouraging him to give me hug after hug after hug. Luckily, he obliged his neurotic mother with only a little bit of judgement. : ) I wasn't sure what to expect when we picked Jack up, but was so pleasantly surprised to find a smiling child who enthusiastically told me about the pictures he had drawn for me that day and explained to Hayes how he has a name tag on his shirt so that all of his new friends will know what to call him. And I could hardly contain my laughter, when as I buckled Jack into his car seat he looked up at me and politely asked "well, how were your errands?" : )

This parenting stuff is quite the ride, I'm tellin ya!

My boys.

Just a couple of guys talking this school thing over.




Our 4 year old little goofball.



I finally got a real smile out of him when I asked him what he was going to buy with his $50 from Big Granny!




If Jack has a bookbag then of course, Hayes needs to have a bookbag.


Our 4 year old little turkey.

Hayes kept having major wardrobe malfunctions! Hopefully, we'll get this backpack thing worked out by next week. Yep, we get to do this whole first day thing yet AGAIN!!

Total hysteria sure is exhausting!