Behold indoor soccer at its finest! Mom and dad are encouraged to play along and are often out-run and out-kicked by every little 2-year-old in the class.  Tommy absolutely loves it. We run, we kick balls, we play with balloons…the possibilities are endless.

And when all else fails…tackle cousin Julia..

I’d venture to say the highlight of his week comes at the very end of our class.  The little soccer tots get not 1, but 2 stamps…it’s mind blowing.  Oh, and if you dare wash my hands and risk the loss of my beautiful stamp, you will be sorry.  Trust me.

Whew!  What a workout!  This little soccer tot’s all tuckered out.

You turn your head for just a second and then we are magically transformed into a beautiful ballerina. Thank you cousin Julia for helping us discover the ballerina in each and every one of us.

 

Today marks the first day of a new chapter Mr. Tommy. You started the day at 5:00 a.m. singing Old Mac Donald (or as you say it “Oh Wet Danal“), and I had to laugh because I knew the grand vision of how I thought this day would play out was, quite frankly, not at all about me and my schedule, and you were just making sure I remembered that.

I imagined there would be lots of tears and lots of drama and my parental anxiety was at an all time high. I tried so hard to keep it together as I smiled at all the other moms and dads who were dropping off their second, third, and even fourth children. I thought, my gosh I really have to look around, soak in this moment and remember the way you kissed me and the sound of your little voice as you smiled and waved, “bye mama.” Because before I knew it, I had to walk away and let you go.

I walked just a few feet outside of your classroom to linger (because I didn’t have the will power to keep walking) and via a tiny little window I peeked in to see your smiling little face. You were as cool as can be and I was blown away. And while I know there were a few tears a little later on, over all I know you had a wonderful morning. It was the longest three hours of my life.

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I was about 25 minutes EARLY to get you but I just couldn’t handle it any longer. When I finally walked in to see you, you broke down in tears and I thought AHHH how I missed you and you clearly missed me too and OOOHHH don’t cry mama’s here to save you! But then I realized you were crying because there was an extra muffin left over from your snack time and you just wanted me to hand it to you. Sooo I’ve never felt so deflated ever, but you later made up for it with some of the best hugs and kisses a mama could ask for. Muffin in hand…we exited the building…and we were happy once again. Success.

Our attempt at our dream cousin “first day of school” picture….failure.