Emrick’s First Day of Preschool is Over!

I took this picture just after pulling up to the curb to pick up Emrick. Once he was helped into the car, I excitedly asked him questions about his day and quickly discovered that he was in a very foul mood! So I began to ask probing questions, only to be left completely stumped as to what he was unhappy about. He said yes to being asked if he had fun, but he refused to say more and was exceedingly irritated by my desire to talk to or look at him. So I tried to figure out why.

“Are you sad about something?”

“No.”

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

“Oh. Are you just tired?”

“No.”

“Did somebody do something to upset you?”

“No.”

As we continued on the very short drive home, I tried again to ask him what sorts of activities he did, but my questions were met with silence. When we got home, I took him out of his car seat and he went heavy and limp in my arms, so I carried him inside. Finally, I asked again, “Are you sad that I wasn’t there?”

He grew angry. “No! I am NOT sad about anything!”

I set him on the bench in the mudroom and then went back to the car to get Holly out. When I got back inside, he had lain down on the bench and was very mopey. I put Holly in her highchair and returned to the mudroom to get Emrick. I brought him into the family room and laid him on the big green chair. I then sat next to him and tried to comfort him. I stopped asking him about preschool and just asked him what I could do or get for him. His responses were either non-existent or angry.

I texted Marcus, and told him that Emrick was behaving like a sullen 14-year-old, impatient with his nosy, prying mother. Marcus responded, “Well, I’m not sending him back if he’s going to be like that afterward.”

A few minutes later, Emrick, still lying on the green chair, said “The inside of my mouth hurts.”

Aha! He had complained of the inside of his mouth hurting right after breakfast this morning, but his mood was fine, so we figured he just bit the inside of his cheek. If he had a sore cheek all morning, though, that could explain the bad mood. So I asked to see the inside of his mouth, but he was uncooperative and told me “It’s not a spot” that hurt. After more questioning, we figured out together that what he had was a sore throat.

SO. I am operating on the assumption that that’s the only thing that was wrong. After some rest, some lunch and some children’s Advil, he was back to his old self. I just heard him laughing with Holly and saying, “You have so much teeth, little girl. Open up!” He has also been more talkative about the day, since perking up. He is assigned to stand on a yellow square during a certain activity, and he has his own spot at one of the tables. And his cubby has a fish on it. And he got to play outside for a little bit. And the teachers sang a song but not the kids.

But I reeeeeaaaaalllly hope this does not mean he is getting sick.

I am optimistic that next time will be better (unless he really is sick, in which case we will keep him home, of course) and that his bad mood was about not feeling well rather than not liking preschool. We attended an orientation last Friday and he did GREAT with that. He was in a room with his two teachers and some other kids for AN HOUR WITHOUT ME (parents attended a presentation in a different room), and was just fine with it. So I think once he’s feeling better he is going to be fine.

Anyway, so that’s how the day went and that’s all there is to tell. Hopefully next time will go more smoothly!

Oh! Just for fun, here’s a picture of Holly right after I took away from her the empty pudding cup that she had apparently pulled out of the trash while I was writing this post! I looked down from my laptop and she had her face and tongue as far into that pudding cup as she could get them. A+ parenting!