Orientation

Tomorrow night I am hosting a girls night at my house.  I am oh so very excited to have most of my fave girls in our new home!!  Clearly I have lots to do in order to prepare for said girls night, I do live with two busy littles.  But I could not let tonight go by without journaling about this night.  You see tonight I went to Collin's preschool orientation.  Gasp!  I know, I can hardly believe it either, but yes, yes it is true.

During the drive there I couldn't help but wonder what happened to the last four years?  Surely it was only yesterday that I was a giddy tear filled (happy, thankful tears of course) momma driving home in the backseat with the hawk eye watching over this sweet little bundle swaddled up in blue.  And now here I was driving off to preschool orientation, still have the same tear filled eyes, maybe not quite as giddy this time.  :)

Don't get me wrong, I am SO very excited for Collin.  He will love school I am pretty sure of it.  He will make lots of new little friends, create fantastically unique projects that we will proudly hang on the fridge, we will go on exciting field trips, and hear all about the new things that he is learning about, including "Jesus is his best friend". Sweet right?!  Totally!  Of course I am giddy for him, just a little weepy for myself...did I mention my first born is going to school?

So crazy mom enters preschool gymnasium for orientation.  Said crazy mom checks in and picks up a folder with a gazillion forms to be filled out.  I mean seriously people, I may have signed my life away tonight, I am not completely sure, all I do know is that I signed my name more times than I could count.

Our lovely preschool director (who I have known for years, and completely adore) begins her presentation.  Loads of info.  I am completely listening.  I mean that is what good moms do at orientation right?  Good moms don't fill out their paperwork while the director is speaking, we all know that.  Yes, crazy mom, put your pen down and listen.  So I do, and I did.  Just in time to hear the "drop off procedure"....

First day parents will spend the day with your child in the classroom.  Beginning day two you will drop your child off from the car.  You don't even have to get out!  You wait in the drop off line, pull up and your child's teacher will meet you at the car door and escort your child in.  It works beautifully and really cuts down on the crying....

Um excuse me, cuts down on the crying?  For who?  Seriously people I was teary eyed just thinking about it.  It is at this point I am sure I will look around to see other teary moms, yes clearly this will be the case.  We are all about drop our kids off at the curb and drive away.  This is something to cry about.  I look up and no one looks teary, notta  one.  In fact, many moms (who have had kids in the program) are smiling and joyfully nodding their heads in agreement!!  You will not be the only one to cry orientation, get it together crazy mom.

Maybe I should just start filling out my paperwork like all the other moms.  I get to the "child info" page.  The mom across from me is also on this page.  Directions are as follows:  Check all words that describe your child most of the time...

I happily check "helpful, kind, loving," he truly is every one of these things, most of the time.  :)
 I suddenly hear the mom across from me ask the dad "should we check defiant?"  Dad says "no" and then changes his answer to "yes".  I look at their folder which is the same shade of yellow as mine.  Oh great we are with defiant.  Then I see defiant is a "frog" and we are "ducks".  

Gotta love the a.m. and the p.m. group.  

It's not long before I let my mind wander off into unsafe territory.

What if someone hurts his feelings?

What if he misses me?

What if he feels sad?

And then I really start terrifying myself with thoughts of Collin misbehaving in school.  Oh mercy I do not want the "you lied on your orientation paperwork" phone call...

Oh my word crazy mom get a grip!

Clearly I should not have been sent to preschool orientation alone.

Even more clearly, daddy will be doing the first dew drop offs...

Now please pass the xanax!