preschool
Nate started preschool back on September 9th and he's been going two days a week in the morning. Near as I can tell, everything is going really well.
It started off with a few tears, mostly because the week before, we all had visited the school in the evening, and he thought we'd be staying again. On his first day, after he started to cry a bit, his teacher quickly shepherded him off to a distraction. I understand it is important for her to maintain some semblance of order on the first day and I understand that getting any child into the routine can be good for everyone, but I didn't get to say goodbye to him before he was hauled away. It's silly to be bothered by this, I know, and yet I still am.
But there were no problems after the first day, and now he can barely be contained in his drive to get into the classroom to begin his day.
I said "near as I can tell" before, only because I'm pretty sure he's being trained by CIA agents in proper techniques to resist divulging sensitive information if captured. I don't really know what he is actually doing at school. Questions about his day, his activities, etc either go unanswered or are returned with a very teenage-sounding "nothin'." I realize this is fairly common for preschoolers and so I just roll with it. I'm grateful that the teachers send home a little newsletter at the end of the week so we have some idea of what has been going on.
Every once in a while little snippets make their way out: he'll start singing a song we've never heard before or he'll say some series of sentences that we've never uttered. 
helloheather and I will just look at each other and smile.
Today is class picture day for Nate. And that by itself is something that amazes me.
October 20th, 2009 - 09:21
>On his first day, after he started to cry a bit, his teacher quickly shepherded him off to a distraction.
Don’t let this bother you too much. I’ve been on the teacher side of the equation as well. I understand it’s hard that you didn’t get to say goodbye, but this really was the best for both of you. The worst drop offs EVER are the parents who insist on making sure little Johnny is all better before they leave. Yet, despite the tears, little Johnny is happy as a clam no less than 5 minutes after the parents are gone.
Drop offs will get better and you will be able to have hugs and kisses before he goes to the class room. But when Nathan starts crying, it’s best to drop and run.