Preschool: Day 2

As you all know, Ethan started preschool on Tuesday. On that day I was all: 'Awww - you are so cute with your back pack on sweetie. Say cheese!' And when I went to pick him up I was all: 'Ooohhh - show me your wonderful artwork'

Well my friends - preschool day 2 went much differently. Either Ethan put on a good act for Ms. Kathleen on Tuesday or sweet Ms. Kathleen is one of those teachers that tells all the parents the kids were "so good" when in reality they were little hellions.

Today, the preschool director filled in for Ms. Kathleen (her daughter was having ear tube surgery) and when I went in to the classroom to pick Ethan up the director surprised me with her stern "We need to have a talk about Ethan's behavior".

I immediately felt my face get flushed as the other parents were skipping past us all 'Kissy kissy honey, how was school today?' while shooting me an 'I'm sooo glad I'm not you' look.

She got down to eye level with Ethan and asked him "How many times were you on the naughty mat today?" He mumbled something that I'm certain was not "1" as he hung his head.

Ms. I-look-like-I'm-just-out-of-high-school then stood up and proceeded to give me the run down.

"Ethan threw mulch during outside playtime and put it in his hair and in the hair of another child," she said. "Then during craft time, I asked everyone to stop cutting their paper, but Ethan didn't listen - he just kept right on cutting until I finally had to take the scissors away," she continued with a big frown.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that my first thoughts were: 'Oh come on - he's a boy. A TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY. If you take him outside, of course he's going to throw mulch. If you give him scissors, of course he's going to want to cut.'

But I quickly realized that some of the things that Ethan does to wreck havoc around the house just aren't going to fly here at preschool. So I suppressed the small little urge I had to defend my child.

And then suddenly, I started to feel like a failure as a mother. I mean really - IT'S JUST THE SECOND DAY OF PRESCHOOL and my son is "that kid". The bad one. The one that all of the teachers are going to dread having in their class and all of the kids are going to be scared of. The one that other parents will get a small parenting ego-push when they hear 'what that little Ethan did today'.

Okay so maybe I was getting a little carried away. I quickly urged that feeling away just the same. I mean, I refuse to let myself feel that way. I know that I'm doing a good job raising my kids. Will they be perfect? Heck no. Are they always going to listen to the teacher? Nope.

But now more than ever, I am aware of the great responsibility I have to shape my children into good people. Teach them right from wrong. When to listen and when to talk. How to share. How to make friends. How to learn.

Welcome to Preschool...Here's hoping we make it through Day 3!

PS - For all of you that are telling me to write MORE MORE MORE, you're in luck. I'm sure I will have plenty to write about now! Just check back every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. :)