It is a day that we have been anxiously awaiting. Jacob has been longing to attend school all day, specifically so he can bring his own lunch. I have been longing for an end to the constant, daily conflicts between Hunter & Jacob (it has been particularly bad lately) as well as one less child to run errands with. It makes life SO much easier just subtracting Jacob from that equation! Hunter had mixed emotions as we left Jacob at school and returned home alone. "Now I don't have anybody to play with," he pouted. My heart went out to him, but it has turned into a good thing. Since then, Hunter has been forced to play individually and use his own imagination. Jacob is always the dictator on what and how they play. It is refreshing to see Hunter able to invent his own play. Hunter has discovered that when Jacob is gone at school all day, he has free reign over ALL the toys. He was in heaven playing with the Lego's last week. He told me that Jacob doesn't ever let him play with them. He has also discovered a doctor's play kit and has been giving me daily exams. He was looking into my ear and I asked him what he saw. "Bugs," he replied, followed by a shot to kill the bugs. He is a good doctor with a very gentle hand. I look forward to our daily appointments.
Another reason Jacob has been so excited for school is that he gets to ride his bike. The kids rarely get the opportunity to ride out of the backyard so this is a whole new experience for them. Hunter was excited to accompany us on these rides as well. He asked me to wake him up so he could ride with us. One thing I will not do unless absolutely necessary, is wake Hunter up. That kid needs every last minute of sleep he can possibly get or else he is a tantrum monster by midday..sometimes as early as breakfast. I told him I wouldn't wake him up, but he would be able to ride with us if he woke up on his own. You would think it was Christmas by the way he happily bounced out of bed early.
It was awesome!! The only time it has ever been ridden was right after it was assembled, Trevor & I both took it around the block for a spin. Since then, it has been sitting dormant in our shed, collecting dust. I was excited to finally get some use out of it after many, many urgings from Trevor to sell it since it would never get used. I argued that it was my souvenir from the trip and proclaimed that someday, I would use it. See? I told you so!!
It was very hard for me to step aside and let Jacob lock up his bike on his own. I wanted to step in after about 5 minutes of him trying to unlock the chain and secure the bike correctly. I had to force myself stand down. I really want him to learn how to be self-sufficient. I feel like I enable him too much. The realization came this summer when he brought me a package of fruit snacks and asked me to open it for him. I tried to teach him how to do it on his own, but he wasn't able to. I realized I need to allow him some more space to be more independent and responsible. It's just so much easier to do everything for him!!
We were a few minutes late on the first day. The tardy bell rang as we were still walking the long way around the school to get to his classroom. We finally found his door and I followed him into his class to drop off a bag of supplies. He found his desk and I decided to snap a quick picture of him before heading out. Is it just me or does he look embarrassed? I didn't expect him to get embarrassed by me this early! I thought I was still safe for a few years.
When Hunter and I left to ride home, I got a little sad. It is hard to drop your firstborn off into a world that you aren't really a part of and leave him to fend for himself. I remember those first few days of school being so intimidating and kind of scary for my shy little self. On the other hand, Jacob is ALOT more outgoing and probably one of the most confident kids I know, (sometimes a little too egotistical), so that knowledge brings me some peace that he will be OK in his new environment. So far he has done well adjusting and is enjoying school. It's funny how it is usually the parents who are nervous for these milestones! We should take some confidence lessons from our kids!
No comments:
Post a Comment