First Day of Preschool!

Matthew had his first day of preschool yesterday...FINALLY! Emma started school 3 weeks ago, so it has felt like we have been waiting forever for his to start. Anyway, the big day came and he was really excited. He is going to the same preschool that Emma went to for the last two years. It's at a Lutheran church and the teachers are four super sweet women who volunteer their time to run this school. Amazing! Especially considering that the newest one started about 15 years ago and the oldest one has been there 40 years....since her oldest child went to preschool there. They take 10 kids and keep the same class for 2 years. We love the teacher-child ratio and how close knit the group becomes over the course of the year.

When we got to school, Matthew ran right in and started playing. Most of the kids there are kids he knows from church and he is very familiar with the school since Emma was there before. So, he felt right at home. They did some fun stuff the first day- painted apples to hang in the windows, did a cutting project, and had lots of play time. When it came time to go, the teachers told the kids to come sit at the table so they could go when their moms came. Matthew ran the opposite direction, into the play house and told them he wasn't leaving because he wanted to stay at school.

In the meantime I was waiting outside with all the other moms. One by one, the kids came out smiling and happy. When the last kid had come out, they looked at me and said, "He says he's not leaving. You might need to come get him". What??? So, I went in and sure enough he was hiding in the play house repeating over and over that he wanted to stay at school and he wasn't going to go home. Ten minutes and lots of struggling later, we finally got him out the door and in the car. I love that he loves school so much, but I sure hope we don't have to go through this every time!

The teachers commented to me that they were very impressed with his painting skills and that he was a little boy who knew exactly what he wanted and was going to make sure he got it. I'd say that's pretty accurate.  :)

After school, the kids and I were eating lunch. Emma was telling us about a new boy in her class who has really long hair. She was fascinated with this kids hair and didn't understand why a boy would have long hair, so I finally said, "Some boys just like having long hair". Without skipping a beat Matthew piped in, "yeah, and some boys just like staying at school". Haha!

I hope our little Buddy continues to love school. I really am so excited for this year!

"Matthew, smile!"

"No Buddy, give me a REAL smile."

Ah, this kid cracks me up!