Sappy, Yes, Sad, No!!

I feel like I have so much to say in this blog, so I hope I can organize my thoughts enough, so that it somewhat flows. First of all, Hudson started pre-school today!! He will go every Tuesday and Thursday morning. He was so excited. We have also signed him up for a cooking class called Lil' Chefs on Wednesday afternoons for 12 weeks. Our town puts on several programs for pre-school kids, so we gave Hudson the option of skating (on the ice of course), arts & crafts, or cooking. He of course was ALL over the cooking option. I had to tell you that to tell you the rest of the pre-school story. So, on Tuesday morning, we went to meet Hud's teacher at pre-school. He was convinced he was going to cooking school. Even after we met her and saw his classroom, when Craig got home from work and asked Hudson what his teacher's name was, he replied, "that cooker lady". So, this morning I woke him up singing a little tune I came up with on the fly, something like, "Get up little school boy, it's time to start school today." As I knelt by his bed, he barely cracked open his little eyes as poked out his bum to stretch, he goes in a tiny little sleepy whisper, "I'm going to make some recipes for you today!!" So I'm thinking, "great, he's going to be so disappointed because cooking school doesn't start until the 23rd!!"

We get to school, and he's so excited to go in. I know we didn't do this in Texas, but up here, kids have to bring a pair of shoes to leave at school for their inside shoes. It's a brilliant idea really-- plus, it just keeps the floor clean in the yucky winter. Well, I let Hudson choose his school shoes, and for sure he chose some light up shoes. He was so excited to put them on when he got to school. He ran into his class proclaiming, "Hey everybody, these are my cool light shoes!!" I could barely even get him to face me to tell me good bye! He was estatic to be there. It sure makes it much easier to walk away, but more on my thoughts about pre-school in a minute. So, after nearly 3 hours, I go to get Hudson. When I walk in the door, I figured he would shout, "Mommmmyyyyyy!!" like he usually does when I pick him up from somewhere. When he didn't do that, I knelt down and said, "Hey buddy, how was your day at school?" Well, the chin started to quiver as he replied, "That teacher took my light shoes, and I won't see them EVER again!!" He was so sad that he had to leave his new light shoes at school. Ughhhh, why didn't I anticipate that?? After a few minutes of complaining about this "bad" teacher, he got over it kind of. Here I thought I was really stepping out and letting him get "light" shoes, but it totally backfired in my face!! I guess we'll see what Tuesday holds.

How did I feel about Hudson starting pre-school? I felt proud. I felt ready. I knew he was excited, and I just wanted to release him to go. I didn't ever feel like I wanted to hold him back. I guess I have always kind of been that kind of mom. I have enjoyed each season, but I have also fully embraced each new season as it comes. I want Hudson to one day be successful and independent. I love that little guy with all I am, but I didn't shed a single tear when I walked away from that school today. Instead, pride welled up in me as I thought he's taking one more step towards growing up. Sure, I was taking pictures and calling grandparents to share stories, but I was not sad--not even for one minute!! The plus side for me is that I get 2 mornings a week to train for the race I am running on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I am only doing 5 KM, but nonetheless, I have to get in better shape. So I think I will use part of the time Hudson is in school to exercise.

So there you go. Our first day of pre-school. Here are some pictures of the day.
Standing by garage door rarin' to go


I had to get one outside--better lighting


"Cheese!!"


In front of his school

after school with his "School is Cool" hat--but still a little sad about those shoes

I did get a little smile