We survived!

I'm sitting here in a silent house while Macey takes her morning nap and Camden is at preschool. I keep looking over my shoulder, expecting him to walk in the room any minute and ask me what's taking me so long (his favorite question whenever I'm blogging or trying to work on a paper for school while Macey naps). And I have to say: I'm pleasantly surprised by how the morning went.

As soon as I woke up this morning, the butterflies started flying madly through my stomach. You would've thought it was my first day of school. Camden, on the other hand, woke up completely calm and happy, even though he remembered right away that today was a school day. His morning routine was unchanged: he had his OJ and watched his favorite show on Nickelodeon. Then he moved to the breakfast table for a bowl of cereal, all the while chatting away without a care in the world. I think I put on an Oscar-worthy performance this morning, fluttering around the kitchen cheerfully, as if today was just like any other day. But it was important for me to maintain my composure: I didn't want him to have even the tiniest sense that I was feeling anxious about leaving him at school.

We picked up my sister and nephew and hit the road shortly after breakfast. The boys joked and laughed in the back seat the whole way there and smiled happily for pictures. Maybe this isn't going to be so bad, I thought hopefully to myself as we made our way to their classroom. And it wasn't so bad: Camden and Will hung up their book bags outside of their classroom door, put their lunch boxes away dutifully, and then walked into their classroom and smiled at their teachers.

Then, it was time for us to say goodbye. Their teachers had made it very clear that we were not to linger on the first day, even if they got teary. That might sound a bit harsh, but these are very experienced, and more importantly, very loving, grandmotherly type teachers who were confident they could calm any crying child down more quickly if the mom wasn't hanging around. I trusted that, and prepared myself to follow their plan. So, Lauren and I said our goodbyes with a quick hug, and Camden and Will both froze like a deer in the headlights when they realized we were actually leaving them there alone in a classroom full of strangers. I could see the anxiety in Camden's eyes and knew the tears weren't far off, so I smiled my biggest smile, told him I'd see him soon, and rushed out. Lauren and I lingered in the hallway for a few minutes afterwards, peeking in and hoping for the best. And you know what? It was fine. Neither Camden or Will cried; one of their teachers distracted them as soon as we left and they were sitting together, playing happily with some blocks. I breathed the deepest sigh of relief and felt like a gigantic weight had been lifted from my shoulders as we talked to the car.

Now I'm counting down the minutes until I can pick him up and hear all about his day!