First Stop: Preschool

I know the timing of this post isn't terribly original. I've seen tons of status updates on Facebook and in blogland the past few weeks about "back to school" and "first day of school." So I thought I'd be tricky and wait until MID-September to write about it. :-)

Jack has been excitedly chattering all summer long about how he can't wait for September. He told the store cashier, the baby on the playground and the bum on the corner that he is going to "Say-wem Acad-ummy in Septemmer."

And then September came.

I'm not very sentimental (and just for the record, Aunt Penny, I WILL cry at your funeral, so don't give me any more grief!), so when the morning of Jack's first day dawned, there were no tears from me. I dressed Jack in his favorite bug polo, slid on his Buzz Lightyear backpack (purchase last minute from a second-hand store, as I did a dance to the gods of thrift) and loaded him and Jude in the BOB.

Because really, what better mode of transportation to start your educational journey than the world's coolest double stroller?

(As I pulled up to his class, all Jack's classmates were saying, "Whoa, cool stroller!" Jack said, "Yeah, it's our BOB." And I thought, this stroller admiration from your peers isn't gonna last long, buddy, so soak it in while it's here. Because I am NOT pushing you to high school!)

Jack was so excited to look around the classroom he couldn't look at the camera. And really, with a cool cubby complete with your name on a dinosaur placard calling, who can blame him?

As I walked away, there were no visions of the day he was born flashing through my mind. No tears on anyone's part. No sighs of "my baby is growing up." I'm just not that kind of girl.

All I could see as Jack zoomed away toward the train table was the apple of my eye, surprise of my soul and joy of my heart taking his first steps on what I hope will be a fantastic journey of learning to love learning.

And I think I know how God felt when he looked down on his own son and said, "You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life." (Luke 3:22, THE MESSAGE).