Jacob's First Day of Prep

Goodbye to Pre-school Jacob

As Jacob embarks on his second week at school I thought I would blog about his first day as it’s a time in his life I want to remember and maybe one day he would like to read about it too.

The Kids at Southbank

The day before school started we had a “Celebration Day” to say farewell to Jacob’s pre-school years, we took an early morning trip in to Southbank and the kids had a lovely swim in the pools there.  It was a lovely morning, not too hot, not raining.  A walk around the markets followed our swim.

Jacob Goofing Around

After Southbank we headed for a visit to see grandad, stopping off at a park on the way for a picnic lunch and a play.  Then it was time for home, where we had a cake in the evening as a special starting school treat and a final goodbye to pre-school Jacob.

Jacob in his Uniform

FINALLY the dreaded much awaited day arrived, our little boy was starting school.  Monday 23rd January 2012.  We were all a little excited and a lot nervous.  Jacob kept telling us that he wasn’t in the slightest bit nervous or scared despite his face being pure white and forcing smiles through very tight jaws.

With Daddy

It was very unfortunate that Jason couldn’t have the day off work due to his supervisor already having the week off.  However, thankfully, he was able to pop home for an hour to he could join us on the first morning.  So at 8.10am Jason was home and it was time to head to school, by now Jacob’s nerves were clear but he remained positive and upbeat.

We had previously had the opportunity to meet the 4 prep teachers at an information evening and we had found out whilst purchasing his uniforms that Jacob would be in Mrs Thomas’s class.  She was the teacher that had least impressed me during the information evening and I was a bit disappointed that she would be Jacobs’s teacher.  HOWEVER, I want to admit how wrong I was.  Mrs Thomas is in fact WONDERFUL and I think Jacob is EXTREMELY lucky to have such an experienced and enthusiastic lady as his first teacher.  I really hope when classes are rearranged later in the year that Jacob gets to remain in Mrs Thomas’s class with Mrs Franklyn as the teacher’s aide.

Jacob Spots a LEGO Box

The moment Jacob stepped foot in his class room all his nerves just melted away, which was exactly what Jason and I expected to happen.  He popped on his name badge and he was off exploring and checking out his room.  One of the first things he spotted was a box of LEGO, well as it turned out it was just a LEGO box with craft items inside, much to Jacob’s disappointment.  The disappointment was short lived as by Tuesday he discovered that there was in fact LEGO for the kids to play with.

Time for Mummy to Say Goodbye

Jason, Bella and I hung around for 10 minutes but it soon became obvious to us that Jacob wasn’t really interested in us being there and just wanted to get on with things.  It was time to say goodbye and let our little boy do it alone, we had kisses, a last look back and we joined some of the first parents to leave.

Guess what?  There were NO tears.  Not a single one.  I didn’t even need to visit the “Tea, Tissues and TimTam” meet and greet area. I thought I would be bawling but I think some encouraging words from friends and family in the morning had helped me realize that all parents get a little sad on their children’s first day of school and its normal but it gets easier.  Now I won’t deny as we walked back to the car I had the hugest lump in my throat ever but I didn’t cry.

Bella and I dropped Jason back at work and went home.  The house was so very quiet and empty and I didn’t spend half my day picking up or repairing LEGO.  Before we knew it 1.45 came around and it was time to pick Jacob back up.

A Great First Day

We were greeted by one tired but one very excited little boy, who had a million stories to tell.  Oh how I had missed his endless chatter all day.