Today, Miles started a weekend German program at the Deutsche Schule Charlotte. Every Saturday morning for the duration of the school year, Miles will attend a German language class (in the interest of achieving our ultimate goal — sending him overseas so we can finally get a moment’s peace).
Miles’s experience with new environments sans mom and dad is a bit of an unknown. Sure, he does fine at daycare, but he’s also been going there since he was three months old. Miles himself will tell you he’s “shy,” and he’s certainly been clingier than usual with Jaclyn and me lately. I expected this morning to be overwhelming and emotional for him, assuring Jaclyn that the teachers there expect a lot of crying on day one and are likely well-equipped to deal with it. I think we both prepared for this to be a borderline traumatic experience for him.
I should’ve known better.
Every morning when we leave the house, we drive past three schools before we reach the interstate — a language academy, an elementary school, and a high school. Frequently, Miles comments on one or more of these places, wistfully remarking that someday he’ll be be old enough to go to a “big kid school.”
When he saw that his German program was, in fact, held at a Big Kid School…well…
Not only were there no tears at drop-off — Miles had a blast on his first day, impressing his instructors with his positive attitude as well as his potty aptitude. At pick-up, he rushed over to see us but also seemed less than ready to leave (I think it might’ve been harder to convince him to come with us if not for the promise of ice cream). As the next in a line of “first days of school,” today couldn’t have turned out better!
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 