Preparing for Preschool

Yesterday Jacob's preschool had an ice cream social for the kids to visit the school with their families and see who will be in their class this coming year. Jacob and Brody were so excited all day, they kept asking me if it was time to go yet over and over.

We arrived to the school and the kids played on the playground while parents picked up paperwork and filled out name tags. I then walked over to observe the kids on the playground and just couldn't help but laugh while noticing just how different these two kids are. Jacob walked around the perimeter of the playground checking everything out before selecting an area to play in. Meanwhile Brody ran straight to the first thing he saw, knocking bigger kids out of the way if necessary. After a few minutes it was time for all the students to sit in a circle around Mrs. Render for story time while siblings and parents listened in a different circle to a few announcements. Brody thought there must be some mistake because there wasn't a spare chair for him, but clearly he belonged in the preschool circle. I thought I made a good compromise with him by having him sit at a nearby picnic table so he could enjoy the story too and left Aaron to look after him while I joined the parents. Brody wasn't happy with the arrangement I left for him, so he went and sat directly in front of the teacher for about twenty seconds until he got bored and spotted a squirrel enticing him and THE CHASE WAS ON! Brody jumped up and ran after the squirrel, squealing and doing his evil little laugh loud enough for the lady making the announcements to stop and point out Brody and say how funny she thought it was. All the parents then watched Brody for an uncomfortable amount of time and finally we proceeded with our meeting. After the squirrel climbed a tree and quit antagonizing my child, Brody walked back over to Mrs. Renders circle and stood in front of the teacher and smiled at each child making sure they noticed HIM before getting bored and moving on to the playground toys again. Jacob was a perfect little student the whole time, sitting quietly right next to Mrs. Render. Afterwards we enjoyed some ice cream and then proceeded home with both boys talking about how fun it was and how excited they are to come back to school and play inside next time. Brody is completely unaware that he is NOT enrolled in preschool this year. I'm anticipating a major meltdown on September 21st, the first day of school, when the harsh reality hits Brody. I better start thinking of fun things to do with him now to make up for it...