Robots

Getting ready for the first day of school was a hectic endeavor, despite my attempts at organizing and preparing. Robby didn't care what he was going to wear, but he did insist on sporting his cowboy boots. I tried to talk him into sneakers, but he insisted that he was a "boot man." I finally acquiesced and decided to let him express his own style.
  Robby happily sang as I drove him to school. I knew he was slightly nervous when we walked into his classroom because he tightly gripped my hand. After taking pictures and getting him settled, I gave him a hug and promised to pick him up when school was over.

He ran after me, threw his little arms around my waist and buried his face in my stomach. He began to sob, begging me to stay. He pleaded that he was scared, and that he didn't want to stay. I knelt down and talked with him, promising to pick him up when he was done for the day. I knew that my reasoning with him was fruitless. Finally his teacher took him by the hand and led my little red cheeked boy to the carpet for circle time.

I cried the entire way home. I drove straight to Mr. Bill's house, where he was waiting with a bag of chocolate and a hot mug of coffee. We sat on his swing and I wept for an hour. It was hard seeing him so frightened, and although I realize it was a childhood rite of passage, it broke my heart leaving him.

A few hours later I phoned the school to check on Robby. His teacher promised that he stopped crying within minutes of my leaving, and I felt an enormous sense of relief. When I arrived to pick him up at the end of the day, I saw him playing with a classmate through the window.

I was greeted with a huge hug when I arrived. Robby quickly filled me in on everything that he learned. We walked around his class and I admired his locker, desk and cubby. He was particularly excited about working with robots!

Before we left his class, Robby invited two little classmates over to meet me. "This is my Momom. You won't believe this. It's going to blow your freakin' mind. Take a look at this!"  He lifted up my skirt, exposing my leg. "See, I told you that Momom had a robot leg."

I had deliberately concealed my prosthetic because I did not want to garner unnecessary attention. Apparently Robby thought that it was worthy of showcasing, especially since his class was going to be learning about robots. Who knew that my leg would make him the classroom hero on the first day of school!