School is in Session

You have moments as a parent that humble you and remind you how completely undeserving you are to have contact with such beautiful and potential-filled spirits of God. 

    We put Matix down early to have some special time with Liam and try are hardest to explain (again) to Liam what a preisthood blessing was and what made it so special to us. (We've approached the topic before in an FHE about 8 months ago when we talked about the priesthood being the power of God. A topic thats undoubtable vast and complex in the mind of any human being yet alone a 3 year old but we felt that a brief introduction to the understanding of this gift was important at the time.) We talked, just the 3 of use, about Liams feelings about school and we explained some of the different enviroments he would experience (being alone or without Mom and Matix, being with strangers, having to follow instructions from a new leader, going potty in a new place, etc.) Liam was thrilled with the prospect of something new and exciting but had many questions and was most nervous about me not being there. (which are feelings i can share with him). 

   We all agreed that God made all things and could do anything with His power, we agreed that prayer is our way to communicate our needs to the father and with those two truths we tried explaining that Dad would use the keys of the priesthood to bless him with the abilities only God can bless him with and comfort that can only come from the heavens. The spirit was present throught the blessing in a way we haven't seen in a while. As we said amen, Liam stood up and gave his dad a big hug and said "that was a beautiful prayer daddy!"

He was right.

     After we tucked him in, Chad and I just wanted to talk about how special our Liam was. The Lord opened our hearts, through Liams blessing, to see how ready he was and what great things he would do. We felt his testimony of Gods power and love for him grow and that kind of joy is the happiest there is.

       With big butterflies in his stomach, Liam quietly listened as I rambled on about all the new things he would get to do at Preschool in a few hours. I could physically see the emotions tugging inside him, the excitement of finally going to school and earning his long awaited privilege of learning and playing with others and the anxiousness of being dropped of at someones house he doesn't know and not having mom a few steps away for the first time ever. The butterflies dissipated quickly as I reminded him how excited I was for him and what a special experience it would be.

L: Will Millie and Porter and Ryder and Brigham and Nixie and Stratton be there? They go to school too!

K: No sweetie, they go to a different school, we're going to a new school thats going to be close to our new house! You'll make lots of new friends and you'll all try new things together today. It'll be so fun.

L: Thats a lot of new things mom!

On our way to school, Liam was a chatter boy, nervously reciting the same excited thoughts over and over. "I'm going to be so kind mama, thats rule number one!", "You'll come back and pick me up when I'm done and I'll tell you all about my day" and "We can get a treat because its a special day, right" "Happy, kind and obedient will get me to Preschool, grumpy mean and disobedient will get me in bed"

    When we got there, we waited outside the door as his peers slowly joined us, he waved at everyone and gripped my thigh like he was standing on a cliff, clinging to a tree to keep from loosing balance. I reminded him to ask a girl what her name was, so they could be friends. I approached her...fell scielnt and searched for the words to say but before he could remember to ask her name he said, "I like your paw patrol sticker, I like paw patrol!" 

that works too.

      Before I knew it, Liam had gone around to everyone waiting with us and told them him name, asked to be friends and explained that his mom forgot his back pack. Yes, Liam was the only kid without a back pack on the first day (but in my defense the teacher told me he wouldn't need one so i didn't realize everyone else would still let their kids bring them...I'm the worst). He ran in and only came back to give me a hug because I insisted!

It was a long two hours of waiting for brother to get back and Matix and I were much quieter without him. 

As soon as it hit 2:30, I was there waiting at the door. when the doors opened he calmly and very cooly  walked over to me a bashfully hugged my thigh again, but not the way he did when I dropped him off. He wasn't nervous at all anymore. he immediately showed me each and every paper sent home with him and told me all about them! His teachers giggled by the door watching him almost ruin all his work in excitement to show them off to me. I grabbed a picture of him and Ms. Jones, a saint of a teacher who with definitely become a household name. 

"When I was passing our craft materials, Liam grabbed my hand and squeezed them and said, "wow, your hands are super squishy Ms. Jones!" Then all the kids had to squish my hands!"

So you could say Liams already made an impression on his teachers.

When we got in the car we had so many conversations about his special day!

K: "Liam how was it! Did you miss me as much as I missed you?"

L: "Uhh, no I don't think so...but I missed Matix more than he missed me!"

I'm so excited to have him in Ms. Jones Pre-School, she's so kind and has been doing this for 15 years. I trust her and her family and love watching her seemlessly float from class to class, loving each kid and teaching with perfect patience! Liam is a learner and preschool isn't just given away in our house, you really have to earn the right to learn and he has. I hope to watch him appreciate this gift and work hard!

Happy Kind and Obedient