This is the day I have been anticipating all summer long. We've been talking about it and talking about it and talking about it for so long that it was hard to believe the day finally arrived. Ty woke up in a great mood and once again got ready really fast and was eager to go. He loved putting on his "real backpack" as he calls it and remembered his teddy bear name tag. "Mommy, I'm ready to go. Mommy let's go to Jack and Jill!" He was in such a good mood that he even posed for the pictures.
We arrived at school early enough that we were the first ones there and able to quickly review the epi-pen, benedryl procedures with this teachers. It was also nice because it gave Tyler a few minutes to play by himself and get comfortable in the room. We waited for some of the other students to arrive and then as we were playing in the kitchen he looked at me very sweetly and asked "Mommy, when are you going to leave?" If that wasn't a perfect segway then I don't know what is. "Well sweetheart, it's time. I love you so much, have lots of fun, learn something new, and make Mommy proud. I'll be back soon to pick you up." I gave him a big squeeze and that was it. He didn't cry and I didn't turn around to see if he was okay because it seemed like he kept on playing in the kitchen. And I knew myself well enough that if I turned around it was me that was going to start to cry in front of him. Matty and I walked out the door into the car and I pulled away. And then the waterfall came....I cried such bittersweet tears. I've been so badly wanting this moment to be smooth and happy for him and although it had only been a few minutes, Tyler seemed really comfortable and ready for school. I, on the other hand, was having a serious Mommy moment. He's only three but it's so hard to believe everything that' s happened in the last three years and that he's grown up so fast that he's able to be on his own in school learning and making friends without his Mommy. I was so proud, so happy, and so sad all in one big crying,
blubbering moment. Matty and I drove home and he went down for a nap without any problems. I then iced the cupcakes, cleaned the kitchen, did the laundry, checked my email, and still had about 30 minutes to do "nothing" and all I could think about was Tyler and how much I missed him. The house seemed so quiet. I kept picturing what he might be up to and how he was behaving. Matty woke up in time and we rushed back to school because I couldn't wait to hear about his day. We waited patiently in line and when he and I made eye contact his face lit up. He waved and waited for his teachers to call his name and then ran to give me a huge hug! It was the best! The whole way home he told me about things they did. He made a shaker and then they had a marching band out to the playground. I asked if anything made him happy or sad. And his sad response was about a boy that swatted him away when he tried to play with him at the mountain with trucks and his happy thing was that another boy wanted to play with him. Whoa...I thought. I tried getting some more details but it was difficult to figure out exactly what happened but still I thought, I'm not sure if I'm ready for this. Who wouldn't want to play with my Tyler? The bottom line was that Tyler was sitting in the back seat so happy with a huge grin on his face and was thrilled to be telling me about his first day of school. I would say it was a success and things went much, much smoother than I ever anticipated! Of course, I stuck to my promise and we had a cupcake celebration as soon as we got home.
Tyler loved decorating the cupcakes himself and went a little overboard with all the sprinkles. I thought, hey, how often do we have the very first solo school day of his life??!! He deserves all the sprinkles he wants!
He ate his cupcake right up and was enjoying the celebration. Matty kept giggling and the three of us had a special time just being together. My heart was bursting with joy and pride!
We arrived at school early enough that we were the first ones there and able to quickly review the epi-pen, benedryl procedures with this teachers. It was also nice because it gave Tyler a few minutes to play by himself and get comfortable in the room. We waited for some of the other students to arrive and then as we were playing in the kitchen he looked at me very sweetly and asked "Mommy, when are you going to leave?" If that wasn't a perfect segway then I don't know what is. "Well sweetheart, it's time. I love you so much, have lots of fun, learn something new, and make Mommy proud. I'll be back soon to pick you up." I gave him a big squeeze and that was it. He didn't cry and I didn't turn around to see if he was okay because it seemed like he kept on playing in the kitchen. And I knew myself well enough that if I turned around it was me that was going to start to cry in front of him. Matty and I walked out the door into the car and I pulled away. And then the waterfall came....I cried such bittersweet tears. I've been so badly wanting this moment to be smooth and happy for him and although it had only been a few minutes, Tyler seemed really comfortable and ready for school. I, on the other hand, was having a serious Mommy moment. He's only three but it's so hard to believe everything that' s happened in the last three years and that he's grown up so fast that he's able to be on his own in school learning and making friends without his Mommy. I was so proud, so happy, and so sad all in one big crying, blubbering moment. Matty and I drove home and he went down for a nap without any problems. I then iced the cupcakes, cleaned the kitchen, did the laundry, checked my email, and still had about 30 minutes to do "nothing" and all I could think about was Tyler and how much I missed him. The house seemed so quiet. I kept picturing what he might be up to and how he was behaving. Matty woke up in time and we rushed back to school because I couldn't wait to hear about his day. We waited patiently in line and when he and I made eye contact his face lit up. He waved and waited for his teachers to call his name and then ran to give me a huge hug! It was the best! The whole way home he told me about things they did. He made a shaker and then they had a marching band out to the playground. I asked if anything made him happy or sad. And his sad response was about a boy that swatted him away when he tried to play with him at the mountain with trucks and his happy thing was that another boy wanted to play with him. Whoa...I thought. I tried getting some more details but it was difficult to figure out exactly what happened but still I thought, I'm not sure if I'm ready for this. Who wouldn't want to play with my Tyler? The bottom line was that Tyler was sitting in the back seat so happy with a huge grin on his face and was thrilled to be telling me about his first day of school. I would say it was a success and things went much, much smoother than I ever anticipated! Of course, I stuck to my promise and we had a cupcake celebration as soon as we got home.
Tyler loved decorating the cupcakes himself and went a little overboard with all the sprinkles. I thought, hey, how often do we have the very first solo school day of his life??!! He deserves all the sprinkles he wants!
He ate his cupcake right up and was enjoying the celebration. Matty kept giggling and the three of us had a special time just being together. My heart was bursting with joy and pride! 
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