"Dad, my school is the other direction"

Those were the words Reece uttered as we pulled out of the Target parking lot after having to make a brief stop to get shoes for him. As we were driving to his first day of Tuesday/ Thursday preschool at St. Paul's Lutheran, I decided to grab the handbook they gave me at the Open House and just check on the shoe rules. Sure enough, he was in flip flops and the only other pair of shoes in the minivan were crocs. There in bold print Absolutely no flip flops and crocs are strongly discouraged! So, just so his happy demeanor could continue, we stopped into target quickly to grab a pair of little closed toes shoes and socks. Rick then took a right out of the parking lot to go towards Emma's school, when Reece who can barely see out of the windows in the backseat, spoke very matter of factly that his school was the other direction. Very true. I think he has Rick's sense of an inner GPS unit. Apparently once you hit 35 though, the GPS goes on the fritz.

Reece was so excited getting out the car and then seeing his friend Jake( that he met last week) just topped it off. However, once inside the classroom, he realized today was the day he stayed and we left. Then he stuck to my leg like a pair of underwear in the dryer without Cling Free. I tried to coax him over to the pirate castle, Nope, the play dough, Nope, the computer, no no and no. FINALLY, he saw the puzzle with sound effects and I could quietly kiss his cheek(receiving a smile from him) and slip away mostly unnoticed. Like every good mother or maybe over-protective mother, I left the building and then tromped through the wet grass and shrubs to stand outside the window like a stalker and observe him from there. I don't know what I was expecting to see, my little guy crying wanting me to come back and take me home for another year of playtime with mommy? But, no he was smiling and totally happy being in school. So, I choked back the tears, and got in the car, drove to Coffee Bucks( which Rick now calls 5bucks) and cried while ordering my raspberry Mocha. Then, I cried a little at home, couldn't wait for the three hours to fly by and got a huge smile and running hug, when I picked him up. He said he loved school and played with a girl and a boy. I guess growing up isn't so hard on him, but it's torture on mother's.