First Day of School

Today was the day - Elias's first day of school! Actually, it's only a pre-preschool program at the local Y. Introduction to Preschool I, as it's formally known, is a twice weekly, hour long class during which two teachers lead a group of 15 two-year olds in songs, games, stories, and craft projects... all without mommy or daddy in the room. Like most of the other kids, this would be Elias's first time in a somewhat structured classroom setting without a parent in sight.

It did not start out very well. Elias, who is getting his two-year molars and as a result has been extra crabby lately, refused to cooperate in getting dressed this morning. I tried to cajole him with promises that he would be "going to school, " but this only resulted in him screaming the entire car ride to the Y, "I want to ride in a school bus!" Graham was happy to join in from his carseat with hysterical cries of his own.

When we got to his classroom at the Y, some of the other kids were milling around, reading books or playing with toys and puzzles. One girl was hiding under a table screeching. Which example would Elias follow? Luckily, a blond teacher named Miss Liz quickly pounced on him, asked him if he liked to read, and handed him a book about robot cats. He sat down, started reading, and I slipped away.

A few minutes before the hour was up, I sneaked up to the classroom and spied on him through the window in the door, along with a half dozen other apprehensive parents all peeking in to see how their own kids were doing. Elias was happily sitting at a table eating cookies. When he was done with his snack, he got up, walked over to a shelf, pulled out a truck and started playing, all with the casual confidence of someone who had been in this classroom a hundred times before.

When class time ended the teachers opened the door, and amid joyful cries of "Mommy!!", a gaggle of relieved kids poured out of the room back into the waiting arms of their mothers. I waited for a bit, but Elias did not appear. I stepped into the near-empty room and found him playing at a toy kitchen set-up, moving plastic grapes around with a spatula.

"C'mon, Elias, its time to go"
"No!"
"You can come back on Thursday"
"No! I'm cooking!!"

Finally, with the teachers' help, I was able to coax him out of the room. Of course he screamed the whole way home, "I want to go backwards! I want to cook!" and again Graham joined it. I'm happy it all went so well.