Jake and Brady Central: First Day

There are certain milestones in life that I have been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. Today we reached one of those milestones. Kindergarten. Wow. Almost six years ago I was standing in a hospital looking down at my firstborn son and wondering what he would be like when he got older. When he would cry inconsolably, I would wish for him to be older so I wouldn't have to hear that anymore. When he crawled I wanted him to be older so he could take walks with me, and go more places. Now, I wish I could take back all those wishes for him to be older and just have that little ball of hair and giggles back. Everyday he makes huge strides towards becoming the man I always hoped he would be, but I can wait for that. I want him to stay little a little while longer.

Then, there is Brady. He's now the big man in Preschool. The one all the other kids will look to and model after. I'm not saying that as a braggadocio, that's just his role in his particular preschool. He is such a cool kid and it tears my heart out to know I won't be with him all day anymore. Our baby boy is growing like a weed and soon will be joining his brother in the "gone all day" ranks. For now though I will enjoy the heck out of our few hours in the morning spent together. He makes me smile like no one else can. I want to always have the relationship he and I share right now, and I'll fight tooth and nail to keep it going.

It's all happening too fast and I am not ashamed to say I have cried my eyes out more than a few times over it. In our society, Fathers aren't supposed to express these feelings, especially about sons, but I think that's a giant mistake we have all collectively made. I have never been the kind to follow BS tradition so forgive me if I seem a little off. My love for my sons is the strongest emotion I have ever felt, and I know it's like that for you more "reserved" dudes out there too. We all feel this way and dammit, its alright to talk about it and cry about it. Life is too short. I tell my sons over and over day after day how much I love them and how proud I am of them. I don't ever want there to be a doubt.

So now.....The First Day.

I cooked the boys a big-man breakfast this morning. Eggs, bacon, biscuits and OJ. After all, if they are gonna go conquer the world, they can't do it on a less than stuffed belly. While they ate, we talked about school, their teachers, their old friends and the new friends they would meet. To say they were excited is a vast understatement. After breakfast, they ran to get dressed and get their shoes on. While they got dressed, I packed Jake his first lunch. An uncrustable, chips, Gatorade, snackpak pudding (thanks Billy Madison), and a banana for snack time. We then headed out the door to the great unknown...well almost. They've kind of known their teachers over half their lives. Still.

Parking at school was flippin' crazy. Took us about 10 minutes of cruising around to get a spot. Finally, we made it inside and went to see Mommy for a few minutes before we had to go to class. I could tell it was taking a lot for her to keep her composure, so good thing we had a time crunch. Because Brady's class is an afternoon class he got to come and hang out for a while before his class began. So the three boys headed down to Mrs. W's class to start the adventure.

Jake was right at home as soon as he walked in the door. No shyness, no nervousness, he was just...ready. Exactly what Mrs. Dexter had told us she wanted to achieve in his time in preschool. She is one smart cookie. Now he gets the perfection in the big K that is Mrs. W. If you can envision what you would want your child's teacher to be like, in every way possible, she is it. Heck she even sounds like a Kindergarten teacher. She has been our friend for a lot of years, but I say this as a parent, not as her friend. We are lucky to have her leading our little dude through his first year. I was totally at ease in her classroom from the beginning and more importantly Jake was. He sat down and filled out his first assignment and turned it in promptly. He's already improved upon my academic model. After that, we had a couple parent meetings that gave Jake time to meet his friends away from the crazy paparazzi/parents. Brady went and hung out in Cindy's classroom like a champ.

When we were all done with the meetings, we all three got to have lunch together. That was huge for me. I hadn't planned on eating with Jake, but I'm glad I did. I know Brady really enjoyed it too. Even though cafeteria food leaves a lot to be desired, I was a happy camper. Cindy even got to stop in and visit. Woo to the Hoo y'all!

After that, Jake's day was just about over and Brady's was set to begin. Brady kept asking us, "Now? How about now? Can we just go now?" By the time we said, "Yes" he was chomping at the bit. After giving Mrs. Dexter a huge hug, he walked in his classroom like King Dingaling. He knew where his cubby was, what he wanted to play with first, who he wanted to see. That truly is a magical place to him, where he can be and do anything he wants. He met a lot of new friends and some old buddies from last year. He is a gentle and patient friend, and that's going to take him far not only this year but the rest of his life. While the kids played, I filled out paperwork and looked up to see Big Jake rumble in to see his old stomping grounds. The boys played together until it was about time to go. Mrs. H even snuck them a few pieces of contraband (gum) for being such good kids while the grownups were talking.

I took the boys home to hangout a while before I had to go to work tonight. We talked and laughed and I tried to soak it all in. Today compared to tomorrow was easy as pie. I got to spend a lot of time with both of them and was never really away for more than an hour. Tomorrow, Jake will leave with Cindy, and I might not see him much at all. Luckily my awesome wife suggested we grab a quick bite on my lunch break so we can catch up. It's not something we will be able to do all the time, but it will take the sting out of the day for sure. Plus, I am off every Friday so I'll get to spend the whole day volunteering at the school. So, even though it's going to get rough there are a lot more positives than negatives. We are a lucky family to live the life that we lead. If I didn't have such a strong wife, and such able kids...I would be a total mess right now. Errrr...more of a total mess.

One more thing...I love you Cindy! I love you Jake! I love you Brady! I love our family!