Will started preschool at Easter Seals today and he appears to like it. Maggie prepared his outfits and labeled his backpack (still a bit too large) and lunch pack with his name. I dressed him; gathered his packs, his activity chair, and our camera; and drove him to the school in Levittown, less than seven miles away. Everyone was friendly and welcoming, we took a couple of first-day photos, and I was encouraged more than once to call as often as I wanted to check on him, but I only called the nurse to mention some details I forgot. I did not want to be the hovering father, worrying over nothing, and it seems all was well.
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Will waiting for a traffic signal on the way to his first day of school. |
It was good to see familiar faces, too. Summer and Anthony were both part of Will's gross motor therapy group. Summer is a couple of years older than Will and Anthony is in Will's class. We also saw Melissa, Abby's mom, from our local disabilities support group.
When I returned to get him, his teacher reported he cried twice, once in response to classmates' cries and once later, possibly due to some gas. Both episodes were short and the bottom line is that he had fun, seemed to like being there, and the staff all thought he was excellent. He continued to be in a good mood until 3:45pm when he had a little intestinal distress and seemed to be sleepy. I put him in his room and he was happy, but didn't fall asleep until around 5:00pm, then he napped for around 45 minutes.
As for me, I now have time during the day to run errands and work on projects at home while Will's occupied with his studies. Today meant getting prescription allergy medicine for Princess, our 100-pound yellow Labrador retriever; reviewing our mail after returning last night from our 10-day Thanksgiving vacation in Florida; and various home tasks like paying bills, emptying and reloading the dishwasher, and recycling. Next up is a steak dinner with mashed potatoes and relaxing with Maggie, once she gets home.
