First days

So on Thursday Tank had his first day of his new preschool. I stayed there for the first 30 minutes, which is pretty much where they take everyone potty, then get settled to eat lunch. Tank was all about exploring the room and didn’t really care if I was there. Well, until his teacher made him actually stop what he was doing. It was time for him to put up his backpack and sit down for lunch. Well, he wanted nothing to do with it. It probably didn’t help that I chose that time to leave. According to his teacher, he actually did pretty well for a first-timer. He’s never been in daycare or preschool before. The first 30 minutes after I left he cried, then he fell asleep. After a quick nap, he was joining everyone in their activities. So while the first half of the day was kind of a disaster, the second half went much better. On Friday he went again. This time I dropped him off at the gate, like the other parents. I gave him a hug and a kiss and sent him on through. He went on just fine, grabbed his place in line, and went off with the other kids like he was an old pro. When I picked him up that afternoon, his teacher said he’d had a good day, so he seems to have adapted to school pretty easy.

Today is Monday and not only does he go back to school, he’s taking the bus, too. Here’s where I start getting really nervous. See, the thing is, Tank hates, hates, HATES SUVs and trucks. I mean, like screaming bloody murder when he’s in one type of hate. They scare him so bad. Usually, if I’m riding with him, I can get him to calm down after like 5 minutes. If I’m not riding with him, it takes longer, sometimes 20. His bus ride is a little under 30 minutes, so I hope, for the driver’s sake, he doesn’t scream the whole way there.

Ms. A, his teacher, said the driver is really good and plays all sorts of silly music. She also said it may take him up to 2 weeks to get used to riding the bus. I’m hoping, since he’ll be riding it 2 times a day, 4 days a week, that he’ll get used to it pretty quick. My other hope is, he’ll see the other kids from his class on board, notice they aren’t having problems, and take a cue from them. Of course, he could surprise us all and not even be bothered by it, though I’m pretty sure I’d faint if he did that.

We’re T-minus 2 hours until pick up. I keep going around saying “Yay school! Yay bus!” hoping to kinda get him in a “oh this is fun!” mind set. We’ll see what happens. Wish all of us luck!