Ghosts of "the first day of school" past

Today was Griffin's first day of school at Athens Montessori. He did smashingly well and thank God because I was prepared for the absolute worst.

He ran ahead of me to the playground and scouted out his bestest friend in the whole wide world, Oliver. They kicked the soccer ball around like they were team members of Manchester United. I actually had to track him down to get a goodbye kiss.

As I drove home after dropping him off, I felt so proud of him and very pleased with myself. Today was a far cry from what the first day of school normally looks like for us. I reminisced about the last two years of school and smiled at myself in the rear view mirror. We've come a long way baby!

When he was the tender age of two years old and starting preschool, we enrolled him at this sweet little church school. The drop off was painful as he cried and reached for me. I handed him off to the teacher and took shelter in the gymnasium. I would grab random mothers walking by and ask them to peek in at him. "Uh...he's crying, but hang in there, it gets easier" one stranger reported. I sat in the gym and cried my eyeballs out. I was the lone mommy and when they went out to the playground to play, the director let me sit at her desk and watch out a tiny window. Big mistake. He was trying to escape from under the gate. He was kicking. He was screaming. Then, he busted open the gate and ran into the parking lot. His poor teacher chased him in circles and finally snatched him up and hugged him. The director handed me a tissue and told me to go home. I told her to put a pad lock on the playground gate!

Last year was Griffn's first year at Athens Montessori. He cried and yelled all the way to school in the car. Once we arrived, he refused to get out of the car. I mean, he had a death grip on the door frame while I held onto his stiff body and tried to yank him from the car. After I had pried him from the backseat, I carried him onto campus kicking and yelling and snotting all over the place. He then ran away from me across this huge field and I had to run after him. I tackled him and he rolled around in the wet grass like a possessed donkey. All around us, peaceful children were walking calmly to class while their parents looked at us in terror. His teacher heard the commotion and came to the rescue. I then hid in the bushes to try to sneak a peek at him for 45 minutes and eventually left, leaving a trail of tears behind me.

Today was a huge day for us. No tears were shed from either of us. He trotted onto campus like a little lamb playing in the meadow.

I guess that we are both growing up.