Pre-school and super heroes

I just dropped Judah off for his very first day at pre-school. He is attending A to Z Learning Center at Tomball Bible Church. The program is short-- only 3 hours, and he goes to the afternoon session from 1 to 4.

To prepare for this milestone, Judah procured a new backpack. He chose it himself: Iron Man. And just like that (as though there were some sort of four-year-old cue), the car phase exited stage left, effectively ushering in the super hero phase... Though, I think Iron man a little mature for a 4 year old (hello? He makes nuclear weapons!), I think this makes for a fun change.

All morning long, Judah and I played school, at his request-- we did our flashcards, built words with magnetic letters, read books, and colored. We talked about how he would have to act at school-- being respectful and kind, listening, obeying and working hard.

When we walked into the classroom, we were last to arrive (having been held up by the rain, and having 3 small children to get in and out of the car). The classroom was SILENT, and all the kids were sitting on the floor looking at books. Judah strides into the room, drops his backpack on the floor, and goes over to the kids to see what they are doing. I say, "Judah, come here, and let's figure out where your backpack goes." He comes back and scoops it up to place it on the chair with his name on it. He looks at Mrs. Aronowitz (his teacher) with a serious expression on his face, and informs her, "I am four years old now, so I can go to school. This is my backpack, and it has Ironman! And hey-- there's another backpack that has Ironman! There's TWO Ironmans." Then he scampers off to rejoin the class, plops down next to a kid and starts to browse the books. She looks at me and says, "Boy, he is not going to have any trouble leaving you, is he?" I laugh and say, "I guess not." Then I look over and say, "I love you, Judah." "I love you," he replies (without looking at me). I smile, and shake my head and turn to leave with Canaan and Annie-- Canaan bursts into tears and protests that he wants to stay and go to school, too.

I hope Judah can stop talking long enough to learn something. I hope he can listen and be kind... I hope he makes friends. Maybe the other kid who likes Ironman. Mostly, I think I hope that everyone thinks he is as special as I know he is.