School's in, and the fun begins

An unbelievable sense of pride overcame me as I looked at my son, Parker, decked out in his new school clothes. His backpack seemed oversized for his 2-year-old body, and resembled a green mattress strapped to his back. He held his caterpillar lunch box in front of him as we walked, almost like he was carrying a basket of Faberge eggs.

We walked in the door of his new school, and I could tell he was taking the new surroundings in. His ear-to-ear grin stretched even more when he turned the corner and saw his mother, poking her head out of her classroom and waving.

My wife was clearly filled with pride, too, as evidenced by the big smile on her face, watching her son stroll down the hall toward his classroom. And then, her smile disappeared, and her gaze turned to me.

"You do know that school doesn't start today, right? He's just here to meet his teacher."

I explained to my wife that, yes, I did in fact know that it was not the actual first day of school, but you try to explain to a 2-year-old that he can't take his new backpack and caterpillar lunch box. A caterpillar lunch box! You don't play around with that kinda stuff.

When we took him into meet his teacher, he quickly showed us the concern he would have for being in a new environment. And that would be no concern whatsoever, since he immediately rode a rocking horse and then pulled every toy off of the shelf in some manic toy inspection frenzy.

The teacher told us that every day around noon, all of the kids in his class go down for naps. And before we could register our extreme doubt on this, the teacher told us that every parent doubts it can be done. Well, several days into school, I have to say that the teachers in Parker's room could make lottery-style money if they took their Noontime Nap Show to people's houses and charged big money to get kids down to nap in a flash. It's like they have this Crocodile Dundee-like control over 2-year-olds and can make them sleep at will.

This was also a big start for our daughter, Allie, as well, since she started 5K this year. One great thing about 5K is that it is, in a 5-year-old's eyes, a step that puts her tantalizingly close to being a grown-up. She would often remind us that she was about to be in 5K, usually when she was trying to do something she shouldn't be.

ME: Allie, what are you doing with the scissors?

ALLIE: I'm going to cut Parker's hair.

ME: WHAT!?!?!?!

ALLIE: Daddy, I'm almost in 5K.

But we utilized this to our advantage, too. Bedtime? "Hey, if you wanna be in 5K, you have to go to bed on time." "Hey, if you wanna be in 5K, you have to clean up your room." "Hey if you wanna be in 5K, you have to cut your brother's hai..." Wait. Bad example.

Anyhow, Allie took to her new class as well. She, like Parker, found a section of the room that could be easily dismantled, and proceeded to try on every outfit in the dress-up box.

By the time the first day of school arrived, both kids were very excited. And by excited I meant spastic. I feel fairly confident that if there is one Constitutional amendment that is needed, it is one that bans sprinting through the house screaming "WE'RE GOING TO SCHOOL!!!!" before Daddy has had a cup of coffee.

Eventually, we got everyone settled down long enough to take the obligatory first day of school pictures. I remember a first-day picture I had taken when I was a kid, and I had a giant construction paper name tag on. (No point there, just thought I would share that I remember a picture from when I was a kid.)

So we're now a few days into school, and the kids seem to be having a blast. Allie is very excited about homework, something that will easily be cured in a few years. Parker is very excited about a ball, apparently, because every time I ask him about school, he laughs and says, "BALLLLLL!!!!" Oh, and he said what sounded an awful lot like "Me paint wall," so I am concerned that he has either been marking up the school or taking on some side job handyman work.

I am sure each day will be better than the one before since this is a great age to be in school. After all, it's a time of fun and playing and discovery. And naps.