karaspeak

Well, not officially, but kind of his first day. The "first" day was actually just a Mommy and Me day that lasted all of an hour and within that hour, someone (read, girl that is too old and too big to be in the class) had shoved Aiden with two hands full force and I watched my little dude tumble backwards as his bottom and his head both nearly bounced twice on the ground. On the verge of losing it (I didn't), I watched as Nathan console him, and watched as the mom of this child did nothing...not apologize to us, not have her child apologize, and not even remotely look remorseful. It was then I caught myself holding back tears and the sudden urge to punch the mom in the face.

You will all be happy to know I did not.

Anyway, that was just a preview day and after a long chat with the director of the program, I was assured the "too big child" had been moved to the class for the older nursery kiddos. Whew! I felt relieved, though still had my doubts. However, we agreed to give this a try in order to help Aiden adjust to being around other children in advance of his new sibling in the spring. We figured it wouldn't be so tragic to his little world if he was already used to sharing, playing, being smaller, being bigger, etc...just learning the interactions of others. Otherwise, I feared in having him at home all the time that having another little person enter his world would just be terribly traumatic. It may not be, and we're willing to risk it if the school thing doesn't work out. So, for us, it's just trial and error.

So, back to his first day. He looked so cute in his little Polo short-alls and we were very sad to drop him off, but he has some very loving teachers who adore him and recognize his little "isms" and unique and joyful nature. His teachers are sensitive to the fact that he was bullied and as difficult as it is to drop him off, I trust he is being loved on and learning as well as enjoying the company of others who will one day be friends of his. Luckily, many of the kids in his small class live in our neighborhood, so it makes for easy play dates and will make the pool so much fun next year! As you can imagine, as we parted ways, I thought there would be tears and there were, but from me, not him....this made me grateful he felt comfortable enough to jump right in and play despite how heart-wrenching it was for me to leave him. He had a great day...apparently, but was ready to come home. When he saw me he just cried and was so ready for me to get him. I assume this was due to being thrust into a new environment with new people, playing his heart out, skipping his morning nap, and being utterly worn out. Poor little dude came home and slept for three hours without a peep!

We'll see how the next few weeks go, but we did opt to not let him take naps there, but instead to come home and have a great solid afternoon nap. I think this will be the best of both worlds...but again, all trial and error for us as we tread into these unknown waters. My little man is growing up so fast, and yet he is still so small. The saddest part of all is that he will not remember these precious times I have with him....as they are the most dear to my heart before he is exposed to and recognizes the sin and danger in this human world.