Clark's Morning Out

That's right, even my baby is going to 'school' now. I enrolled Clark into a Mom's Morning Out program at a local church this year. I wasn't planning to put him into a program until next year but after listening to him cry for half of his big brother's VPK year I decided to listen to his needs. Even during summer VBS Clark cried when we dropped his big brother off, asking "My go to school peeease!?!?!" It became very clear that he and I could both benefit from a little time apart during the long boring and hot summer months, so I took a leap of faith and enrolled him into a two year old class. Clark will be one of the oldest kids in the class due to his fall birthday, but after meeting the teacher and seeing the daily schedule of events I knew that he would fit right in. So now I sit here blogging away freely in a quiet house without any background video game noise or toddler demands. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry...

You can trace the progression from excitement to tenacity in these photos I took of Clark on his first morning at preschool.






When I told him he got to have his own back pack (handed-down from big brother)and got to go to his own school this morning he was VERY excited.



As we drove over he asked me about who would take him to the potty and got a little anxious when I told him that I wouldn't be there to take him.



As we reached the church I could tell he was getting a little nervous.



And of course once we got in and heard one of the other kids crying for his Mommy the mood definitely changed. Clark has never had any kind of separation anxiety and had no hesitation as he walked into his classroom, but this expression on his face certain shows that there was a little anxiety there on his first day away from Mommy.

After all the transitions this week I'm not gonna lie....I was in tears before I even made it back to my car. I love both of my sons so much that I cannot even put it into words and I can only hope that all four of us will manage these transitions gracefully, and most importantly, together.