Make new friends (but keep the old)

T started Preschool on Tuesday! It's a class of 12 adorable girls and boys and T was so ready to make a few KC friends. A big plus for me is that the school is just a 2 minute walk from our house, IF you move along at a normal adult clip. If you're walking at the pace T would if we let him, it takes about 12-15 minutes depending on how many trucks, ants, pine cones, etc., we see on the way.

I was curious to see what my KC parent peers would be like. I imagined blonde, pink-cheeked, and corn-fed. I figured that if the girl behind the counter of QuikTrip (a midwest equivalent of 7-11, my east coast friends) was as welcoming as she was when I dropped in for a CokeZero, these parents would be thrilled to have me! Well, most are very nice, quite a few are brunettes, and some actually seem a bit standoffish. (Or is that just my imagination?) So don't you worry, I still haven't found my new Best *midwestern* Friend. Though, maybe I'll bond with someone when I volunteer at the Fall Festival.

Anyways, T seems to love school, which I'm so excited about, and the teachers have given good reports about him so far. Except that he needs to work on "taking turns". I pretended to be a little surprised, but oh, yes, I know this about him. The concept of sharing has been a major hurdle. He just doesn't get it (which I'm pretty sure is age-appropriate?) and we usually have at least one major meldown every few days that involves him ripping a toy away from little G and screaming "why is he not SHARING?". Or sometimes he'll ask to "have one turn" with something I have, like, say, a sharp carving knife, and when I say no, the same tantrum ensues with "why don't grownups know how to SHARE?!?!" Nope, he just doesn't get it. So I'm gonna hope that the teacher with the PhD in child psychology does her magic on my otherwise sweet, sweet boy.