And Now...Everything Changes

Today is Dane's first day of "school". We have placed Dane in a Mother's Morning Out program at a local church. He will be going every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:15-11:15. I get to be a parent helper once a month. There were many reasons we chose to put him in this year. Dane is a kiddo with more energy than any of the rest of us. Don't get me wrong, it's all a great thing but we thought it would help him immensely in starting official preschool next year if he sort of learned the ropes this year. We figured having that extra year of structure would be good for him. So...off he goes today. He is incredibly excited and packed his backpack last week. He has been talking about school for a month because all of the neighborhood kids are no longer around to play with all day and he keeps seeing the school busses. Plus he knows that Andon and Presley go to school so he is ready. Last Tuesday was the open house and he kept saying "mommy go to school with me" so I'm hopeful that he doesn't freak out when I leave him today. Generally he only gets upset if another child cries so we will see how this goes. I can guarantee that all of this will have me in tears way before it has him in tears. How did the past 2.5 years go by so quickly? I know this is good for him and likely for me too but I didn't think I would be letting go this soon...I feel like we just brought him home from the hospital! Will they know that he gets cranky and acts out when he's hungry? Will they know that tackling is fun to him and he's truly not being malicious? Will they know that even though he acts like a rough & tumble boy, he's also sensitive and gets his feelings hurt easily? I pray they figure it out very quickly. I know every little quirk that boy has and I know how to fix what's broken...they don't. How do you let them go when no one else knows them like you do?

I borrowed this from a friend's blog...it seemed very fitting (click on it to enlarge if you cannot read it):
This is the first step in a long line of letting go...and I can honestly say it kind of sucks. Stay tuned for pictures...