This morning, Facebook offered me my “on this day” memories while I was still in bed. I went to look through them, and ended up reading the short little blog entry I posted last year. Dekker had missed a day of school due to illness, and I talked about taking him to school the next day. He had cooperated with me, come to school no problem, but when I knelt down to hug him, he had locked eyes with me and said very quietly that he wanted to stay home. He had looked like he was going to cry. I had hugged him and pep talked him a little bit, and he understood that he had to stay. Luckily, that day had smoothed out well, because a couple of other kids were waiting to play with him, and he was included instantly. But it was really eye opening to read that post and remember where we were, and how far we’ve come.
Our mornings around here are pretty standard. Breakfast, bathroom, teeth, clothes, hair, done. If there’s time after that, he plays a bit, but usually its pretty quick after he’s done getting ready that he starts bundling up to leave. He used to cry when I’d tell him to put his toys away and to get his jacket on. Not anymore. He just dumps them in their spot and heads to the entrance to get ready. On days when I have help in the mornings, its just he and I. He gets bundled up and gets his backpack on. In spring, he had started having preferences about what I should wear. He liked to pick prettier shoes for me 🙂 I loved that.
As we head out to the garage, the kids all yell loud “BYEs” and “I LOVE YOUs” at each other, with some “God bless you’s” thrown in once in a while. Its cute. He buckles himself in the van and shouts “Ready!” from his spot, and we go.
We park as close to the school as we can get, and walk to the school, hand in hand. I walk him as far as his boot room and send him in on his own to put his backpack away. I used to go in with him, but the boot room is chaotic, and he’s more than capable. I wait for him outside. It only takes a few seconds before he barrels out the door and rushes at me, bellowing something at me about catching him. And he’s never kidding. He jumps up into the air and I catch him in a corny, movie-esque type scene. Since all of the sickness, I’ve been kissing his cheek, though he always tries for a mouth kiss first. We say big “I love yous” and I tell him to have a great day. He says he will, and then races for the playground without looking back. Once in a blue moon, he has turned and run back to me, saying he forgot to hug me 😉 I’m ok with that. I hope he ALWAYS hugs me in that tight headlock kind of way, and wants to kiss me goodbye. I hope it stays forever.
How far we’ve come in the last year. He likes school, and it appears that school likes him, too. I really couldn’t be prouder.