Enoch's first day of school

Enoch's First Day of Preschool

Enoch started preschool on October 16th.  He was way excited.  He had been wanting to go to school for a long time.  I went and bought him new shoes for the big event which is big because between Shadrach and his cousin Noah I don't think Enoch has ever had NEW shoes.

 

He is going to a preschool at a high school tech school.  So he has around 20 "teachers" who are training to become preschool teachers.  I think there are only 14 preschoolers.  So there are more teachers than kids.  This really makes my Early Childhood Education side of me excited.  I would LOVE to hang out there and watch everything that happens.  I car pool with two other gals from church, so I only have to take him once a week. SO nice.  I HATED taking Shadrach to preschool.  I should have tried car pooling earlier.

As Enoch is getting older, he is communicating what he is feeling SO MUCH BETTER.  We (Enoch and I) have often been at odds with each other simply because I could not figure out what in the world he wanted/needed, and he would just scream which would drive me crazy and I would often give up.   I now realize how wrong I was with Enoch most of the time.  I often thought he was being strong-willed and stubborn, but I now know that he is very sensitive.  I think he just didn't know how to express what he was feeling well. 
What made me think of all of this was his first week of school.  Enoch acts all tough and strong, but school was stressing him out.  He doesn't have school on Fridays, so we normally have a play group.  When I told him it was time to go, he just started crying and screaming.  He normally loves play group, so I couldn't think what was wrong ( a problem Enoch and I often have)  But after talking to one of the moms in the play group on the phone, she said that maybe preschool was hard on him this week and he was just missing me.  My first thought was, "Enoch!?!  He doesn't miss me.  He loves being gone at school."  But then I thought maybe she was right.  So I went to Enoch and told him that I would stay and play with him at the play group instead of just dropping him up.  He immediately started laughing and smiling and said "Hurry up mommy! Let's go together."  He just didn't want to be away from me again after being away from me for three days in a row--  which made my heart melt.  I never think of Enoch as needing me.  He likes to act so tough.  I think I often believe his tough guy act.  but he is still a mama's boy. So now that Enoch is four, I think every day we take small steps towards understanding each other.