So today I felt a little bit like Marlin from "Finding Nemo." Remember how Nemo excited exclaims, "First day of School! First day of School!" as he bounces on Marlin to wake him up? That's how I felt with Grant. And then, remember the part where Marlin says, "You go out, and back in...then you go out, and back in...etc." That was definitely how I felt today, though I worked very hard not to show it.
Grant was one excited little monkey today as he prepared for his first day of pre-school. He even wanted to sleep in his uniform last night. :) So this morning, he took a bath, brushed his teeth, donned on his uniform and put on his new school shoes all the while talking about how "big" he was. We prayed before he went to school and he asked Jesus to help him not to be shy and to be a good boy.
When we got to school, he met his teacher, Mrs. Morrow, and saw his very best friend, Victoria, in his class. He couldn't have been happier. He even humored me while I took a few pictures. His teacher asked a few questions, and Grant responded confidently and made me quite proud. I was pretty impressed! His teacher called each student up to take their picture, then had them take their back packs to their personal cubby. I went with him and checked everything out. We came back in the room to watch them get started and to pray; then the parents were going to be dismissed. Here's where it got ugly. I prayed that God would get me through it without crying...at least until I got to the car. Now I'm asking Him if He couldn't have made it a little easier. Grant turned around and saw I was still there and said, in front of everyone, "Mom, get out!" Grant never speaks to me that way. Disrespect is not something that is welcome in our home. But how exactly was I supposed to handle this in front of his entire class with the teacher there? I told him to turn around and listen to his teacher, but was so mad, I didn't shed a single tear. When the parents were dismissed, I waved at him, but he clearly didn't want a hug and kiss. He wanted to be independent, and didn't want me there. Sad.
We talked about his comment at lunch and he clearly felt bad about it. I didn't mention it the rest of the day, but tonight as he prayed, he said, "God, Help me not to say "get out" any more because it hurt mommy's feelings." So I think he got it. But I sure was embarrassed. And I sure was mad. So no tears today...we'll see how it goes in the future!
As for the school day itself, he said he loved it! He can't wait to go back again on Monday. Little man is growing up.
