Pre-School: A First For O and Jake

I had mixed feelings about the kids going to Pre-School. Not because I didn’t intellectually know it was the right thing to do but it was emotionally challenging. Intellectually it made all the sense in the world. Our Nanny is having a baby in early October with complications which means her availability is scattered at best. O turned 3 years old in April and I think is more than ready to be in Pre-School. Jake just turned 2 and while he’s on the fence in terms of age I think it will be good for him as well. Now that my family planning calculator has successfully spit out a positive response to the kids being in Pre-School I can start wrestling with my emotions.

For all the challenges we faced in having O and Jake the preciousness of their babiness is just engrained in me. I didn’t want them to walk! I resisted for a long time buying O “panties” even after she was potty trained (which happened at an early age). I had thoughts of putting them in the freezer just for a few seconds in hopes that it would somehow stunt their growth and they would remain babies forever. So the thought of them going to school was not a positive one in my wonderful brain.

Instead I convinced myself that this was awful and that I had to be completely sad and devastated over it. Then after some thought I was ready to take them, along with my wife, to their first day of Pre-School. The school is conveniently located near our house and has a great layout. There were kids playing everywhere, toys galore, a huge outside play area and honestly it looked like the kind of place I could trade for work!

O is in a different class than Jake since she’s a year older (the rooms are right down the hall from each other) and we went to say goodbye to her. She was excited to go play and I hugged her goodbye only to find my cheeks wet with tears flowing.
Dammit! I’m crying! Note: O did not shed a tear.

Then we went to go drop Jake off in his room. That was not as easy and he balled his little head off, lower lip petruding and all! So, then comes on Round 2! I start balling and I’m a hot mess all over. My wife and I made it out and while she didn’t lose it inside (yeah only the boys cried on that day; Jake and me) she lost it after.

Damn that sucked!!

Days 2 thru 6 were really really bad! We’re talking hanging on to the legs, begging to go to work, red-faced, crying, crying, and more crying and that was just me!!

Just in the last couple of days now the kids are doing a “little” bit better. They’re crying less when we leave and in fact when O said she didn’t want to go to school this morning she had half a grin on her face. They have a great time in school and that’s evident by the fact that when we pick them up they’re smiling, playing, and having fun. O takes good care of Jake and we’ve been able to witness that when we come to pick them up. We’ll get there without them knowing and just watch them play and O takes such good care of him! With all the kids running around outside O and Jake can still be found holding hands and playing together. Too Cute!!

The big challenge now is getting out of the house. Since both my wife and I work it’s a huge challenge getting all four of us out of the house by 6:30am!! Yeah, a 2 year old, a 3 year old, a 37 year old who acts like a 3 year old and the only adult in the house, my wife, out by 6:30!! Fun times!! LOL

All in all I know that they are going to learn so much in the next couple of months and years. They’re little brains are sponges just waiting to soak up all that there is to know. While it’s hard for me as their Daddy to see them grow up one thing doesn’t change. I don’t stop being Daddy and that means I get to teach them, share with them, and most importantly love them each and every day whether they’re crawling around the floor in diapers or swinging from the playground at Pre-School.