Yesterday the hubby and I took the toddler for an orientation class at his new school. Now when I say school, I mean a twice a week in the morning, just to get accustomed to being out of the house and with kids his own age.

Being there for two hours, to experience what a day with the kiddos is like made me realize a few things. Here are three of them:

1. Our toddler needs some help on his verbal skills. He has a bunch of words that all mean about 10 different things.  The other toddlers in the class had words that could actually be found in the dictionary. Unlike our childs “MaMoe” which represents the remote, The Muppets, Animal (of the Muppets), and anything Sesame Street (including crackers).  I’m willing to give him a little time in school to see if he can find some new consonants, but if not speech therapy is in his future.

2. Even tho I have a kid, I still don’t really like kids. These toddlers are cute, and its not personal, but the ability they have to do the same exact thing over and over and over, and think that it’s amazing each and every time really bores me. During playground time another little toddler brought a ball over to me to play. I bounced it with him back and forth for about 5 minutes before I was over it. Of course he was not, so I had play a game of hide and seek, which I failed to include him in, so I would not be found.

This school is a co-op, which means parents have to give time in the classroom about once a month. I’ve already signed up hubby to do the first round. Three hours of pretending I’m not severely annoyed by toddlers, and having the responsibility to wipe their boogery noses is going to take some time to mentally prepare.

3. Thank God for teachers. I mean these people spend all day with our kids, and really do give a shit about them.  Day in and day out, it is their goal to see them grow, learn and hopefully enjoy themselves.

Our toddler’s teacher Ms. C. had a pumpkin that was cut open for the kids to feel the insides. She had a glue station set up for them to make their own faux pumpkin patches.  As a parent, you can see when someone has genuine patience and kindness towards your child, and it makes it so much easier to entrust them with your little person. I will really try to embody some of that when it’s my turn to co-op.

For now, my weekend will be spent getting things like a backpack, lunch bag and snacks (nut free) to send my little one off to school with…. and lots of diapers, because this kid has no clue what potty training is.  Good luck Ms. C., good luck.

Toddler making some new friends on the swing.