*waaaaah*

Today, G had his Preschool Tour. My Presh-us. He is starting preschool in exactly 2 weeks. *sniff* Yes, yes, I know you've mostly heard me complain about G and his daily antics / tormenting of his sister. And I assure you, I will continue to complain, but I'm allowing myself one whiny, hormonal post first.

I will missssss him. Because next year, it will be L who is off to preschool, and then I will be All Alone, eating Teddy Grahams and Goldfish crackers all by myself and crying at Pampers commercials. Or drinking screwdrivers at 9 a.m. and taking 2 hour baths with the latest issue of Us Weekly...I have not yet decided which way to go. But that is beside the point right now. Because?

Because my first baby. He is old enough to have school supplies, and sit at a desk, and have a real teacher. See? There she is, taking away my BABY.

I watched several other kids come in, tearful and hiding behind their mama's legs. But G? No fear, man, NO FEAR. He chatted up the teacher animatedly, and his 3 year old instincts led him directly to the toy animals, which is how we spent the entire hour and a half visit.

I signed G up for this preschool (last FEBRUARY). I am paying for it. I am LOOKING FORWARD TO THE THREE HOURS OF SEMI-PEACE IN MY HOUSE EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY. He is beyond thrilled, and he needs some social action in a bad way. And the teacher is SOOOO sweet (I even think she's going to pass the cut with ME, the former teacher who will forever secretly judge my children's teachers)!

But as I kissed up to the teacher and watched him mingle with the other ankle biters, I couldn't help thinking what a milestone this is for us. I am no longer a "new mom". I am graduating to "G's mom" (hopefully "G's mom, who makes the best cupcakes in the world and EVERYONE wants to ride in HER car on field trips")!

I am about to embark on 15 long years of public education. I have to be on the other side of the fence now, as parent instead of teacher. I now carry the possibility of being THAT parent. I had already silently cursed myself at this morning's tour for not writing G's name on his box of watercolors...I didn't know I was SUPPOSED to! (And you know me...I debated the TOTALLY INSIGNIFICANT decision of whether to label his supplies or NOT label his supplies for a good 20 minutes. Or maybe half a day. Whatever.)

OMG! I'll bet she has already pegged me as one of those irresponsible parents who will send the wrong school supplies, forget to send snack, and not make my child brush his teeth in the morning.

Note to self: send nice gift on first day of school. And maybe a nice letter explaining how he holds his pencil funny even though I've tried to teach him the right way, misses the "N" in his ABC's, how he says "crap" but means "strap", that he only likes chocolate milk and not white, that he hasn't got the hang of blowing his nose yet, and that his mother is certifiably nuts.