So It Begins
I just packed my first school lunch. Little baggies full of turkey and cheese sandwiches, apple slices, and a cookie tucked in with the carrot sticks in hopes that it will entice Henry to at least open that bag. Preschool starts tomorrow!
It's only two mornings a week, but it's Henry's first step out into the wide world. To him, being away from Mom is a new adventure. Though I remember with sometimes painful clarity leaving him with Elaine every day, he doesn't seem to remember that routine very well any more.
Plus, Elaine and Ravi knew him from the beginning, when he was just a delightful but pretty ordinary baby nugget, and the three of them built their routine and their oddities together. Now I'm handing over a tiny but well-developed person with distinct quirks and habits. Will they like him? Will he like them? Will they find his antics as funny as I do? Will he be sad when he talks about his Thor hammer or water skiing and they have no idea what he's talking about? They don't know why he asks for a "usually cup" after he goes to the bathroom or where the phrase "eat it straight right up" came from.
Also, it's only two mornings a week (repeat to self), but I'm going to miss my boy. I'm going to miss him something terrible. It seems ridiculous to fret about seven hours a week when I used to leave him for ten hours a day, but being home with him for the past nine months has really re-set the bar. Henry is my sidekick and constant companion. He would rather follow me around the house while I do chores than go play with toys by himself. We talk all day long. I left my job because I wanted to be with him all day, and we have had a wonderful time for the past nine months. I'm sad that our season of constant togetherness is ending.
But it will be good for him to go out and meet new people. He will have regular friends, other adults in his life, and a taste of the world outside our home. They'll do things we don't do and see characteristics in Henry that I wouldn't otherwise see. I'll learn something new about him as he enters this new phase. It's exciting, but it's bittersweet.
I should get hold of myself. It's only two mornings a week.
It's only two mornings a week, but it's Henry's first step out into the wide world. To him, being away from Mom is a new adventure. Though I remember with sometimes painful clarity leaving him with Elaine every day, he doesn't seem to remember that routine very well any more.
Plus, Elaine and Ravi knew him from the beginning, when he was just a delightful but pretty ordinary baby nugget, and the three of them built their routine and their oddities together. Now I'm handing over a tiny but well-developed person with distinct quirks and habits. Will they like him? Will he like them? Will they find his antics as funny as I do? Will he be sad when he talks about his Thor hammer or water skiing and they have no idea what he's talking about? They don't know why he asks for a "usually cup" after he goes to the bathroom or where the phrase "eat it straight right up" came from.
Also, it's only two mornings a week (repeat to self), but I'm going to miss my boy. I'm going to miss him something terrible. It seems ridiculous to fret about seven hours a week when I used to leave him for ten hours a day, but being home with him for the past nine months has really re-set the bar. Henry is my sidekick and constant companion. He would rather follow me around the house while I do chores than go play with toys by himself. We talk all day long. I left my job because I wanted to be with him all day, and we have had a wonderful time for the past nine months. I'm sad that our season of constant togetherness is ending.
But it will be good for him to go out and meet new people. He will have regular friends, other adults in his life, and a taste of the world outside our home. They'll do things we don't do and see characteristics in Henry that I wouldn't otherwise see. I'll learn something new about him as he enters this new phase. It's exciting, but it's bittersweet.
I should get hold of myself. It's only two mornings a week.
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