Josh's First Day of Preschool

The day did not go as planned. Then again, does it ever?

In my fantasy version of the day, Josh woke up excited and eager to attend his first day of preschool. He cooperated while I dressed him up in smart-looking shorts and a coordinated shirt. I combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and snapped a First Day Photo of my handsome little preschooler with his Thomas the Train backpack.

Here's the picture I had planned to take:

In reality, the morning went much differently than I had imagined. Josh woke up cranky and uncooperative. Everything was a battle. He screamed and cried when I put on his navy blue Polo Ralph Lauren shorts (because they were too roomy in the waist), so had to settle for navy play shorts (with an elastic waist band) and a Hawaiian shirt. He resolutely refused to put on his new tennis shoes, so I ended up having to put them in his backpack and taking him to his classroom barefoot! And, the first day photo…never happened. Josh arrived at his preschool class barefoot, tear-stained, and grumpy. 

When we arrived promptly at 9:00am, I explained the “no shoes” incident to his teachers, who told me not to worry. “We’ve seen everything,” they calmly stated. “We’ll talk about the importance of keeping our feet safe at school.” Oh well, it could have been worse. The mom next to me had to pry her screaming, clingy son off of her and make a mad dash out the door. Josh, by contrast, happily sat (shoeless) in the circle with his peers.

The first day was a short day- only two and a half hours- barely enough time to get home and back. When I arrived, I saw a little boy who looked like Josh playing with a little girl. But, he wasn’t dressed in the clothes I dressed him in or his extra clothes. At closer look, I realized that it was, indeed, Josh, so I figured he must have had a potty accident and the teachers had put him in the wrong clothes.

When I inquired about the mystery clothes, his teachers told me that Josh had had not one, but TWO potty accidents, so they had put him in school clothes. I was mortified. The teachers, however, were very nonchalant about it. Not to worry, they assured me. He’ll learn.

Well, we have a fresh start next week, so, fingers crossed, it’ll go much more smoothly.

 (Josh's actual First Day of Preschool photos)