The word on the street these days is all
about “back to school” and after several people asked me when
Lex starts preschool I figured I should figure it out. There is
a preschool “open house” on 8/26 and I was thinking school
started after Labor Day, but SURPRISE, it starts on 8/27!!
Geesh!! I’m glad I looked. He’ll be going from 8-11am, five
days a week. Eeek!! I’m so not ready! I don’t even know what he
needs. Do preschoolers need backpacks? Snacks? Spare clothes
(ok, I know he needs that one!) Pens, pencils, notebooks (just
kidding, he’d better not need those!) I was planning on getting
all of these questions answered at the open house, but I guess
that’s pretty last minute.

On a similar
note, I’m reading a book called “Protecting
the Gift” by Gavin De
Becker. It’s a good book and has a lot
of information about trusting your instinct and teaching
children how to handle themselves in the world, but it’s also
kind of scary. I finished a chapter about selecting a daycare,
which included tons of questions to ask your provider… of
which we asked maybe one. I did some research but largely went
with a place that felt comfortable. Tonight I just finished a
chapter on safety at school with even more questions a good
parent should ask and know about their schools. I’m feeling
very much like NOT a good parent :( Our criteria for
preschool…. it’s free! I don’t know the teacher’s name (I
have it written down somewhere, I think), I’ve only been to the
place once and have never been inside, I have no idea about
anything about the school (safety record, policies, procedures,
principal, etc.) and I’m about to bring my son there five days
a week for the next 10 months!! Eeeekkk!! I’m feeling very
inadequate at the moment. So much so that I can’t even sleep :(
Luckily hubby is nice enough to get up and watch some TV with
me (after my cathartic blog post). Maybe some Jon Stewart and
Stephen Colbert will help ease my mind.

Next step: select a good novel from the bookshelf and read
that before bed!!