Did you cry the first time you dropped your child off at school?

After a whirlwind Alt Summit experience, where I learned tips and tricks to grow my blog, it was back to the grind yesterday at my full-time job: Motherhood.

It had been a week since Levi and I spent the entire day together; my mom flew to Omaha a couple days before I left for Alt to get reacquainted with Levi’s schedule. As much as I wanted to dive into my notes from Alt Summit and begin reaching out to bloggers and brands I met at the conference, my first priority was feeding, dressing, playing with, and tending to Levi–and let me tell you, he was quite the needy toddler yesterday. It appears he’s on a hunger strike, which I believe is related to teething. Over the course of the day, he must have had nearly 30 oz of milk but only took 5 bites of solid food.

After his midday nap, we drove to the library to return our borrowed books and pick out new ones. As Levi wandered through the children’s section, pulling oversize hardcover books off the shelves, I flipped through the toddler-friendly board books stored in plastic bins. It wasn’t until I landed on the Scholastic title Bye-Bye, Mommy that it dawned on me–this was my last full week with Levi. On Monday he starts a part-time program at Montessori.

Although I tend to be guarded with my emotions, I’m actually the sentimental type. I think that’s why I take so many photos of Levi; I’m trying to preserve every single moment. So you would think that I’d be an emotional mess at the mere thought of sending Levi off to school, but surprisingly, I’m not. And I feel sort of… confused about my lack of sentimentality on this occasion.

Perhaps it’s because I know that JB and I have made the right decision in sending Levi to Montessori. We’re providing him yet another opportunity to learn, grow, and have fun. And it’s only for three hours a day. I’ll still have breakfast, lunch, afternoons, and evening with Levi. Plus, I’ll be able to use the time he’s in school to cross of even more items on my to-do list. Who knows, maybe I’ll even have the opportunity to regularly visit the gym again. (On second thought, I’m not sure I really want to know how out of shape I’ve become!)

I checked out Bye-Bye, Mommy along with three or four other board books and will be reading it to Levi this week to prepare him for saying goodbye at school. We’ve struggled with separation anxiety, and although I’m not sure if I’ll have tears in my eyes when I leave him at Montessori, I’m pretty sure that he will be crying.

My mom recently recalled her experience dropping me off at nursery school. Neither she nor I cried, but when she left the building, she found all of the other moms in tears. Will that be my experience on Monday?

Tell me about your experience taking your child to daycare or school for the first time. Did either of you cry? Was it harder or easier than you had anticipated? I’d love to hear!

{my 1983 nursery school class photo}