A Change of Clothes and a Bath Towel for Naps

I received Drew's packet in the mail the other day. The packet containing all the information we need in order to prepare ourselves for our very first day of preschool.

The packet that explains all the guidelines we must familiarize ourselves with, laid out on brightly-hued letterhead with pictures of rulers and apples.

The packet that contains permission slips that must be signed so Drew can participate in occasional field trips to the library.

The packet that made me cry...

As I was sorting through all the papers that arrived in our school envelope, the introductory letter contained instructions for Orientation Day and the First Day of School. I was honestly doing just fine, kind of excited, actually. As I pored over the instructions, the Director asked that each child bring a change of clothes in a plastic bag to orientation (to be left at the school, I'm supposing in case of any unfortunate accident or mess... do they want us to bring a change of clothes every day???), along with a bath-sized towel for nap/rest time.

Still doing just fine... then I started thinking, "Oh, that will be fun. Drew and I can go shopping and he can pick out his own towel for nap time."

And that's when it hit.

There are many laws of motherhood that perplex me. By far, the most astounding law of motherhood is the "Unexpected Cry". For a non-crier, this is still a shocking phenomenon to me. One minute, I'm excited about school shopping with my big boy, the next minute, I want to bawl my eyes out because he's growing up so fast.

So, while Drew and his Daddy played ball in the driveway that afternoon, I stood by the kitchen counter and let a few tears spill onto the pages of the preschool packet.

(There's nothing like a good bargain at Marshall's to bring back the excitement, though. Pictured above: Drew's Bath Towel for Naps - $3 - woohoo!)