Today was Jackson's first day of Pre-K at Maple Ave Elementary School. It is a UPK program, and it sounds like it is going to be really great. Best of all, Jackson had a GREAT day! It even started out well. He walked into the room, the teacher showed him where to hang his coat and bag, and then he went and found his name and sat down. I had to ask for a kiss! (I know, I'm such an embarrassment!) There were no tears or drama or anything. And when I picked him up, he was wearing the same clothes I sent him in. That right there is a huge achievement. He is potty trained - unless he has to ask a stranger to use the bathroom. But he was all smiles at 2:45 (that's right - its an all day every day program), and first one out the door. I guess being at the begnning of the alphabet has some perks. He got to be the line leader all day! They eat lunch in the cafeteria (or "luncheteria" as Jack keeps calling it), and they get to go to 1 "special" every day. They have gym twice a week, and then they go to either art, library, or music on the other days. It sounds suspiciously like kindergarten if you ask me, but people keep telling me that pre-kindergarten is the new kindergarten, and kindergarten is the new first grade. Twelfth grade doesn't seem to be the new college freshman year, though, so I'm not sure where exactly it breaks down. We'll see if it continues to go well, but I think it will. The highlight of Jack's day was finding out that he gets to take Freddy the Frog, the class mascot, home for the weekend. No worries - he's stuffed. But he comes complete with a suitcase full of clothes and a journal so that we can write a story all about Freddy's stay with Jackson. And that's not the only homework due on Monday! Luckily, the other assignment is arts and crafts, which Jackson excels at and probably won't want my help with anyway. (Woohoo!) And so starts our school year...
And Tucker, for his part, really enjoyed having me all to himself. We went to a community playgroup, he took a nap, and then we played with all the toys Jack doesn't normally let him play with. At one point he came to me with all three toy golf clubs, and he was the happiest kid ever. He didn't get pushed down or knocked over once (even accidentally), and it was a great day. When Jack finally did get home and started playing as three-year-olds will, I pointed out that Tucker had a great day without anyone knocking him down as they ran past, or snatching stuff out of his hands and that he would probably like to keep it that way. Jackson's response? "Well, I'm home now." So true. So true...