First Day of School

Yesterday Luke attended his first day of school. I guess officially it wasn't school. Instead he attended a Mom's day out / kid's day out program at a church near our house. We did the same thing with Alyce when she was roughly Luke's age. We wanted Luke to get all the benefits from social interaction as Alyce did from her class.

It seems kind of weird to Mom and I that Luke is going to kid's day out already. Going this year means that he is going to be attending preschool next year and that just seems too soon. I think we are looking at Luke through Alyce colored glasses. When Alyce first attended school she was just a month away from turning 3. Luke on the other hand still has 7 months until he is 3.  And to a kid only 2 years old 7 months is a quarter of your life; a decent chunk.

Before we left the house to take him to school Mom snapped a few pictures of his first day outfit and lunch bag. He doesn't get a back pack yet but he is there from 9:00 - 1:00 so Mom packs a lunch for him. We picked up a Thomas the Tank Engine lunch bag and seems to be smitten with it.

When we arrived at the school we were one of the first people there. A lady with her child went in right in front of us. Lucky for us she did because you have to enter a code just to get in the front door and we didn't have the updated one. I'm glad they take security seriously. The weather was great so the class started outside. Luke immediately ran away from us and started playing on all of the playground equipment. Mom talked to the caretakers for a bit and eventually Luke came back over to us. He was driving a Cozy Coupe as we were leaving and Mom gave him a kiss on the head good bye. As we exited the area Luke started to follow us as he just realized that were leaving without him. The teachers sprang into action and scooped him up. They did their best to distract him and I didn't see him flip out or start screaming for us.

I left soon thereafter while Mom needed to pay for the class. On her way out she looked in on Luke and sure enough he was crying. It was to be expected but that didn't make it any easier on Mom. Separating from your kid is never easy and it shouldn't be. You are breaking a bond that was being constructed for the past two years.

Once class was over Mom got the scoop about Luke's first day. There were some tears but they slowed down and stopped during the day. He played a lot and made some artwork. The picture he brought home was of an apple he made out of construction paper and glue. It's now hanging from our refrigerator. That evening when I was home I took it off and admired it. I asked Luke if he made this and he said "yes" while beaming with pride.

This will be a good experience for Luke. It's bound to have a rocky start. In the end it will be all worth it. It'll be good for Mom too. She's transitioning to a life where the kids won't be home in the morning and eventually the whole day.