First Day of (Pre)School

Today marked the beginning of both of my boys in school. Sniff. Ashen started in the 4's and Torin in the 3's. Right next door to each other. Not a tear was shed (by them) and so begins a new chapter in our lives.

Ashen could not be cooler about school. He doesn't ask daily to go, but has been primed and ready. He didn't skip a beat today when I dropped him off. In fact, as I unloaded the kids from the van, I realized that I was experiencing the butterflies in my tummy, not them! When I picked him up, he said that he liked all the different activities they did today, but didn't specify what they did (of course). He had a little nervous excitement.as illustrated by the photo below (he had just removed both hands from his mouth).

Bereket is familiar with the school and feels quite comfortable there, as we have gone into the classroom each and every time we drop off and pick up Ashen over the last year. Today she settled in quite nicely in the 5 minutes we were in Torin's classroom and I literally had to peel her off of the Sit'n'Spin kicking and screaming. And screaming some more. She reeeeeeally wanted to stay. Seemed like a repeat of last year, when I had to bribe Torin to leave the classroom! I hope this is a good sign for the future academic success of my children--loving school :-)

Torin has always loved Ashen's class and teachers, which are now his. Last year he gave Teacher Leslie a kiss and hug each day when we left. Leaving him with them was absolutely no problem. When we arrived he asked me to read the daily briefing on the door, and his interest was instantly piqued by the "magnets" which was his first question to Teacher Leslie, "where are the magnets?" in his squeaky robot voice (which is difficult to understand, and I often have to translate when he is in that persona). He was off and totally engrossed within 20 seconds, and I left a minute later...after tearing B off the toy, remember? Torin's favorite part about school today was "the snacks." In fact, he said that he was annoyed that snack time ended so that they could  go and spend time outside. What are these snacks, you ask? Why crackers and juice. Torin's two favorite foods (among others). My boys loves them some goldfish.

In recent weeks, the boys talked excitedly about how they'd be in the same school, and Ashen was very reassuring of some of Torin's anxiety. He assured him that whenever he would see him outside during school, he would give him a hug and say hi. Well, when I picked Ashen up, the first thing his teacher told me was that he and Torin saw each other outside while Ashen was playing on the playground and Torin was down on the patio, and they ran to each other and gave hugs before rejoining their classes. Melt.

Here's to a great year at school for my boys. My goal for them is to have fun and enjoy school. Period. If they learn a little, great. It's preschool for goodness sake! Last year before the big K and life gets really interesting. Savoring every moment with my preschoolers.