School for Bubba

Bubba started preschool last week in what ended up being kind of a last minute decision. I was so tempted to keep him home with me for just this last year before he starts Kindergarten next year. In the end, my more practical mommy side and the constant begging on Bubba's part to go to school like Junior ultimately prevailed. The city teamed up with fate and offered a preschool opportunity in which a bus comes and picks Bubba up and drops him off again right in front of our house. I just couldn't resist that. I had no excuses not to. Its free and its door to door bus service. Every day, the bus driver comments on my lack of shoes when I walk Bubba to the bus steps. pfft! Who needs shoes when you are walking seven steps out the front door? I might not put shoes on in winter just to prove a point. Front door service baby!

As day one drew near, it seemed to occur to Bubba that he would be attending school all by himself and it put a little bit of a damper on his initial excitement. He tried playing sick (and has every morning since) and he has tried to bargain. He doesn't get on the bus kicking and screaming by any means, but is very reluctant. I wanted him to be in preschool in the hopes that it would aid my efforts to give him a schedule he can count on. Life feels like a lot of running around these days. I wanted him to bond with other adults who will be consistent in his life. I wanted him to get used to the rules and regulations of a classroom. I wanted him to enjoy it as much as his brother did. We picked out a backpack and an outfit and I took the pictures and told him how proud I was of him. Despite having a son already go through that first day, I wasn't quite prepared for how I would feel when I saw that bus drive away with my baby boy, who had never gone anywhere or done anything without the security of one of his family members. And yes, I got a little weepy (seriously, are you surprised?) It's just so hard not to think of him as my baby boy still. Preschool today, college tomorrow.



You can just about see his embarrassed smile of pride at the completion of his first day and first round trip bus ride. I was a little disappointed, but not really surprised, when he "couldn't remember" one single thing about his day at school. He has been carrying a love note from me in his pocket to school over the last few days to help him be brave when he rides the bus and when he misses me. He leaves me one too. And he wants me to wave at him until the bus turns the corner as well as reassure him every 10 minutes or so beforehand that I will be there to meet him when he gets home. I'm just going to fold up the memory of all that and tuck it away in my pocket for when he is a snarky teenager who makes me drop him off a block away from school so no one sees him with his dorky mom. I'm pretty sure I will still be seeing my baby boy then too.