Eddie’s school adventure is off to a great start! This week he went from nerves and apprehension Monday morning to the gushing report, “I like school!” when I picked him up that afternoon. He was eager to help me fill out the forms sent home by his teacher, insisted so adamantly in fact, I ended up pulling out some worksheets I had so he would have his own homework to do while I did the parent stuff. Kid after my own heart. (I was that grade schooler who begged for more homework.) Other than the exhaustion I knew was coming, he’s been doing great! And that’s been nothing early bedtimes can’t handle, although it’s strange for our little night owl to be out like a light so early. I can’t say I’ve minded.

Meanwhile, I’ve been hanging out all morning with my right-hand-man, Xander. He’s shed a few tears over Eddie getting to go and not him, done a fair amount of moping around with his blanket, unsure what to do without his main playmate, but overall we’ve had fun. We got to attend his very own toddler story time at the library and visited the botanical gardens hunting for duck sightings in the ponds. Fun stuff!

However, I find myself struggling to come up with age appropriate projects/adventures for him. I’m so used to having to factor in Eddie’s tastes and abilities. Bring on the pre-preschool activities!

This sensory play activity took me all of 5 minutes to assemble this morning. Just shampoo, a little paint, and food coloring mixed up and poured into a plastic bag. Voila! He had a blast squishing and poking it. We even put it on top of his family-photo placemat and had fun uncovering the familiar faces underneath.

Note: this lasted about as a long as it took me to put together. Then it was on to other things: playing outside, running trains on big brother’s blue rail track (without him around to interfere), an early lunch and nap time. All in a day’s work!