Back to school

Today was Tyson's first day of preschool. He was SO excited to go back. This morning the whole family got in the van to bring him to Jamestown Elementary. In the car Tyson told Jori "I will be at my school for a long time, but then I will come home and play with you". Such love and concern for his little sis. It was nice that Darin is still off of work and could come along this morning. Right before we got to school, Tyson told us that he knew where his classroom was, so we could just bring him to school and he would walk to his room by himself. Sorry buddy, maybe next year.

We got to school and Tyson seemed to be wavering between confidence and fear. He started biting his fingernails in Africa, and on the walk down the hall he kept putting his fingers in his mouth, then taking them out again. I am sure he was feeling a bit nervous about being back. Then we turned the corner to his hallway and he said "Where's my locker", so I figured he was going to be just fine. There were already some kids waiting to get in the class, but they weren't from his class last year, so he didn't really pay any attention to them. Right when we got to the classroom Mrs D, one of his teachers, was just getting ready to open the door. She came out and gave him a big hug. Then Mrs. Hubach came out to welcome him back. She asked if he had been on a big airplane, but he kind of ignored her and went in search of his locker instead. I told her that Tyson is way more interested in the stuff going on here and now, than in talking about a lot of Africa stuff. I guess he's just too young to realize what a big adventure he was just on.

While Tyson was putting his stuff in his locker (Darin said he found it all by himself!), some of his friends from last year showed up. There were lots of hugs for Nathan and Isaac. It was neat seeing how excited they were to have Tyson back. We went in the classroom and Mrs. Hubach showed us a big list of questions they have been writing down to ask Tyson when he came back. I am so glad that his teachers have made sure to include Tyson in the class even while we were gone. I am sure that it will make it much easier for him to fit in and interact with the kids that he didn't know before. One of the questions that made me laugh was "Is there a McDonald's in Africa". Kids.

Tyson seemed to be getting right into the routine. It is such a blessing that he is not only at the same school as before, but he is in the same room with the same teachers and even a handful of the same kids. It is wonderful that he doesn't have to learn a whole new routine this year. I am excited to pick him up in an hour and see how his first day went. If I can get any information from him, I'll make sure to update this post!

Update: Tyson's first day back went great. His teacher said it was like he had never been gone. He was very curious about everything in the classroom, so for the first 20 minutes, Mrs. Hubach followed him around and answered all of his questions. One of his friends from last year, Aubrey, stuck with him the whole morning, giving him "help" and just being his friend. Thank you God for people who love our boy. Just as I suspected, Tyson was not overly eager to talk about Africa. He did answer a couple questions, and opened up quite a bit when he talked about his porcupine quill that he had brought along, but then he just shut down again. We didn't get much information from Tyson about his day. He was excited to show off the new "humunga" (harmonica) that he had received for one of his classmates birthdays. We hope that the rest of his preschool days go as well as his first day back.