Watch out MUM's-- Here he comes!

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Just dropped off a VERY excited little boy at his new school, wearing Uncle Seth's old army backpack from 1st grade.
We went to orientation last week, and he got to see his classroom, meet his teachers, and his 5 new classmates (they're going to get to know each other realllly well, compared to the 15 he was with last year!). at his request, he even got to ring the big church bell, by pulling the long rope that hung down from the bell tower in the chapel! He was most interested, however, in taking inventory of how many trucks would be under his charge each time he goes to school. He fancied one in particular, a Hess tractor trailer with a little ramp inside that sort of doubles as a car carrier. Ever since that night that is all he's talked about when it comes to conversations about school. (hey, whatever works!)
He has been mostly positive all week, with a few hesitant remarks here and there, quickly followed by positive ones. All i had to do was remind him that that Hess truck was waiting for him, and his anxiety seemed to disappear!
Last night we prepared by reading Clifford Goes to School, Spot goes to School, and The Kissing Hand, for good measure. He was too excited to sleep! This morning he ran in my room and said, "is it New School dayyyyyy???" with a little lilt in his voice. . . and i knew we were good to go! as we were getting ready, he ran up to me and said, as if to test me: "School might be scaaaarrrryyy!" and stared at me, anticipating my response. "Nooo! It will be SO fun!" I said, and feeding off of my excitement, he giggled and ran down the hall.
We got to school in 6 minutes, which is one of the main reasons we are going to this particular school... it was such a nice commute compared to 25 minutes last year! My big boy ran up the ramp and opened the big door all by himself and said, "wow, this is what a real school looks like!" He walked right into his room, checked to be sure the Hess truck was where it should be, and to make sure it had new batteries like his teacher promised it would. Fortunately all was as it should be. He found his own personalized hook... washed his hands...

and turned around to find this little monkey smuggling said Hess truck outta the classroom!
Fortunately i pulled it out of his hands without too much drama, and Christian promptly returned it to it's proper place... but not before a kiss on the hand (for him AND for me). So sweet!! And off he went!
.... a refreshing change from the little boy i dropped off last year at his first day of school!

Can't wait to hear how it went--
In the mean time, i came home, put K down for the morning nap he still so often needs, and actually got my kitchen cleaned! hoorayyyy for school!