A new era begins! (Ben goes to school!)

He did it!

All last week Ben said the same thing over and over, "Come on, Mom, go to school and play trains." We kept reminding him that school didn't officially start until next (this) week and there aren't always going to be trains to play with - he was going to do crafts and read books and have snacks, etc.

We got back wicked late last night after airline delays sidelined us in Detroit (another post to come) on a layover from Denver for Aunt Niki's wedding (another post to come). I had to wake the kiddos at 7:45 this morning and pray they wouldn't be whiny and too exhausted to go to school. Ben woke as per usual - our happy little man, Emma - not so much - but this post is all about Ben...

He rolled out of bed and wandered down the hall with his cutey sleepy face. I said, "Hey, buddy, we gotta get dressed and go to school." In an instant the sleepy face went away and our excited guy whooped, "waWHOOO! Go to school, play with trains!" As our preschool of choice is a co-op, one parent per session is required to help out with the class. As the alphabet goes, I got to be the class parent today - which was awesome, because I really wanted to see how his first day would go. As Ben has no qualms whatsoever with me dropping him off at friend's houses for play dates and leaving for a few hours, I knew that would not be a problem. Getting to stay and help out / observe my kid in action was great because they did not have the trains set up! They had other toys ready to go. He walked in, looked around and said, "Hey! Where are the trains??" One of the teachers offered to get them and I gave her the pleading look of NO! he needs to learn to enjoy playing with other toys. So he let his imagination go, and grabbed anything else he could find and MADE trains. (See pic below)

Ten minutes later a boy who was missing his parents way too much would not stop crying, so the teacher pulled out the trains to distract him and Ben was in train heaven again. *Le sigh*

All in all he shared pretty good - I only witnessed one toy hoarding episode, and to be honest it was not so much his fault. There is a 3 year old girl who as of day one I am naming the class bully. She kept walking up to the kids and taking the toys out of their hands. When the kids protested, she cried to get her way. As she is a super cute kid I could see how in the real world she has used these tears in her favor, but I was on to her tricks immediately and the two teachers with years of preschool experience were as well, and they stepped in to moderate.

On a normal class day (2 1/2 hours), after playtime the kids clean up the toys before circle time and snack time. Because today's class was a warm up, it was only 1 hour to kind of ease them into school life. They did circle time but did not clean up the toys beforehand, just pushed them to the side in eyesight of the kids. Well, poor Ben had ants in his pants and could not sit still for the story whatsoever knowing the trains were inches away. I can't really blame him.

He did not sit well for snack time either. Those damn trains were still in his sight line! Snack time was pretty funny though. The teacher asked everyone to hold out their hands for "magic soap" i.e. hand sanitizer. She squirted some into Ben's hand and he just stared at it not knowing what to do! (I cannot use the stuff on my hands because of my eczema so I don't bother to buy it.) She had to show him how to rub it in. She then gave him a napkin and asked him to unfold it for a place mat. Yep, he didn't know how to do that either... (We use paper towels!) She poured some Goldfish on his napkin and he wasn't interested in them (did I mention the trains were 8 feet away? Oh, and he prefers Rainbow Goldfish?). She then asked him if he would like some juice. He did, so she poured him a splash in a small Styrofoam cup. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. You see, all he wanted to do was play with trains. He did not want magic soap, or napkins, or plain Goldfish. The tears welled up in his eyes and poured down his little cheeks and he cried, "I no want this juice. I want juice my Lightning McQueen cup..."

As you all know, our Benny is very particular. He cannot (will not) drink out of anything other than his Lightning McQueen sippy cups. The teacher told me I was welcome to send in his favorite cup and I was all, "No way, Jose! We must BREAK this kid of trains and Lightning McQueen sippy cups."

All in all it was a great first day. I should say the true test will be next week when they go for the full 2 1/2 hours. I may need to peek in the windows and spy. Not because I am concerned for his safety - I LOVE THIS SCHOOL - but more so so I can blog about the little things and watch our little man grow. He accompanied me on a bunch of errands this afternoon and we had a blast. He is such an affable being and I cannot get enough of him. Good thing we have him for two more years before all day school kicks in!

 

No trains! Won't stop me from using my imagination and creating them!