Treasures

I don't have any big news on the Browning homefront. Robert starts physical therapy today, Andrew goes back to work, I have a list a mile long at work that needs done and another one here at the house. That's our life. I have been very reminiscent the last 24 hours though.

There are days that going to the head start centers effect me more than others. Yesterday was apparently one of them. I guess it was very metaphoric for me. Normally when I go, the building is alive with activity as a dozen and a half or so 3-and 4-year-olds look for their latest adventures. There are no classes on Mondays at the centers, which made it a great day for me to actually get work done but working in an empty classroom makes me think about my little preschooler for whom I am now planning a graduation party. 

Robert loved preschool, after he got used to the idea. We had a little separation anxiety at the first. Luckily, the preschool teacher was a good friend of mine and eventhough Robert would cry, she would tell me to go ahead and leave. The nice thing was, she called me, everyday that first week, after I got home, to let me know he was doing great.

So yesterday, as I was waiting for software to install so the kids could take advantage of the learning sites offered on the internet. I really looked at each station. The library, some of Robert's favorite books, Verdi, yes, a green snake, the only snake I ever liked in my life. The Sleep Book from Dr. Suess, which was actually one of Andrew's books growing up and was almost out of print when Robert was little. Once in a while you would find it in a collection of Suess works, but not often, Love You Forever. Never made it through it without wanting to cry, but we both love this book and still say the little sayings to each other, especially when Robert asks me why I am laying down a particular rule.

Moving on to the "dress up" area, all these little costumes that you can dress in what you want to be when you grow up. When Robert was little, he was still obsessed with cars but even more obsessed with airplanes. By the time he was in second grade, he could tell the difference between almost all the airplanes out there (and still can). He wanted to be a fighter pilot.......that lasted until about 5th grade when he realized being a fighter pilot probably involved killing people. He tried to find pleasure out of killing birds, I have a picture of a sparrow that he shot at Mom's with his bb gun when he was around 10. You can tell the smile is very much plastered on his face, he will kill them for being a nuisance now, but not so much just for the sport.

The next area was the coloring and paint area, Robert was always more a "cut and paste" kind of kid. Crayons were never really his forte. Give him scissors and glue any day of the week though......he is still like that, given the choice of looking at an engine, or tearing it apart, he would tear it apart in a heartbeat. I think it's funny that I can see how the things he did in preschool have evolved into the kid he is today.

The next thing we have is the computer area. I so remember driving 3 hours to Hidalgo to get Mom to bring her up for Grandparent's day at preschool. Robert had to show Nana the computer, Nana had never seen one at the time and the fact that a 3 year old could maneuver his way around it like he did was even more unreal to her.

Funny, when we got our first computer, I fought with it all night, only to have Robert get up the next morning, push a couple of buttons and everything be fine......he was 5.

Yes, I took a little trip down memory lane. It was almost therapeutic though. I don't have any visions of "deciding I want another one" or anything like that, in fact, for the first time, I really thought, I hope I end up with grandkids someday so I can revisit this a little, firsthand. 

I honestly treasured every day of having my little preschooler, getting to stay home with him, and watching the excitement over the things he was learning. Funny, we go through that now, instead of with the alphabet, colors or counting to 100, it is with figuring out what is wrong with a friend's car or getting the timing just right on an engine. As much as I treasured my time with my little guy, I'm glad he has turned into a big guy that I can treasure time with as well.