Orientation

Had the preschool orientation today, which was largely unnecessary as B is already there every week anyway. Actually it was kind of stressful because B thought he was there to play and I had to keep dragging him away from things. I think I'm doing a better job of treating him like an intelligent human being and not a brick wall, so now I explain everything we're doing/about to do/just did, and it seems to cut down on meltdowns. He may not be happy to leave the cute plastic car, but if I explain today we're not playing, just visiting, and we'll be back soon, he forgets about it a lot quicker than if I just wrench it out of his hand wordlessly.

I think he's going to do great, and as I've said before, just those two afternoons are going to make a huge difference in our lives. They want him to nap, so I may get in the routine of having him nap at the same time at home (worth a shot, anyway). Having that afternoon nap back would be awesome. And like many preschools, they will help with potty training, the prospect of which makes me positively giddy.

There are a couple of things I am preparing myself for:

B possibly picking up weird habits from other kids, and

B missing many days, particularly in winter, due to illness, since they have strict guidelines about how long the kids need to be fever/vomit/rash-free before returning. So if I think he'll be making every Tuesday and Thursday year 'round I know I'm kidding myself. There are going to be lots of days I pay for that he doesn't get to attend. Which sucks. A lot. Thankfully being on Tuesdays and Thursdays means I can avoid the spate of holidays that fall on Mondays and Fridays at least. 

They wanted to know about the dad of course since I left all that information blank. They advised I write "unknown" so someone can't pretend to be the dad and pick him up, which made sense to me. Part of me wanted to write on the form, "could have been one of three guys", ha ha! One must have a sense of humor about these things.

I'm glad he's starting in two weeks and not now because the place is lousy with Father's Day stuff. I'm glad we're not going to have to deal with that for a whole year! I asked how they handle Father's Day / Mother's Day for kids who don't have those parents; they kind of wishy-washily answered that they "wouldn't mention it as much." Um, we'll revisit this next June, shall we?

So now it's for real - labeling clothes, drop offs, making sure his nails are trimmed/hair cut/body clean so they don't think I'm a loser and a shitty parent. I feel like we're entering a new era of civility. There's a great shot in one of my favorite Australian movies called Walkabout which depicts the shoed foot of a girl who has been wandering in the sandy outback for months finally clicking down on pavement; it feels a bit like that.