First Day of VPK

Well, he's there.
Ayden is at school. His very first day of preschool. And his momma is a mess!! Before anyone else was awake this morning, I checked my facebook and saw that some of my sweet friends had sent us well wishes for the day and let us know they were praying. Needless to say, I broke down right there at the computer. Then, the text messages started rolling in and the tears sprang to my eyes once again. But, there was lots to be done and not enough time for crying. Ayden helped me scramble his eggs for breakfast, which he enjoyed along with a toaster strudel. As he was sitting on the counter stirring eggs, he said, "I fink I was wrong." I asked what he was wrong about. "Well," he said, "I fink I really will like school. I fink it will be lots of fun."
**Choking back sobs.**
That's great for my little man. I want him to have lots of fun and to like school. But it sure was hard to drop him off. As we waited our turn in the line to enter the classroom, his little hand squeezed mine and he asked, "Are you and my daddy going to stay wif me?" "No, buddy," I told him, "Daddy and I have to leave you here, but I'll come back in just a little bit to pick you up. Its going to be so much fun!" Then I kissed his cheek, that, while still sweet, is most definitely not the same little baby cheek I'm sure I was kissing just yesterday.
In a flash, it was Ayden's turn. He'd been such a good boy all morning and let me take pictures of him, but when it came time to take a picture with his teacher, Mrs. Speed, he covered his face. I guess we'll try it again another day.
After we dropped Ayden off, we went to another room for a little breakfast they had set up for parents. I was trying not to break out into the ugly cry, since it seemed I was the only parent even wiping away any tears. Jesse kept telling me that it was okay. "You wouldn't have wanted to leave him crying. He was sad, but he walked into the room like a big boy." True. But, my heart still hearts. And as soon as I made it to the car, I had a good, long cry, all the way home (which, to my credit is only about 5 minutes).
Now, I'm counting down the minutes until noon...