{A First for Everything: Mother's Day Out}

I'm at an age where a large majority of my friends have kids between 0 and 6 years old. Recently my Facebook and Instagram feeds have been inundated with pictures of impeccably scrubbed, smiling children heading off to their first days of school. Some parents expressed feelings of sadness and sentiments of disbelief at the prospect of leaving their children for so many hours of the day or week, while others quickly followed the obligatory first-day-of-school photos with images of celebratory mimosa glasses. I, personally, found myself somewhere between the two extremes. I will miss Anders each Tuesday as I drop him off at Mother's Day Out, but I am grateful for the opportunity he will have to engage with his peers and learn to take instruction from other adults. I've already noticed that the quietness of the house while he's away is equal parts peaceful and unsettling (contradictory, but true!), but I am relishing the chance to lavish some undivided attention on this guy. 

In true first-day fashion, I attempted to pack a Pinterest-worthy lunch. My attempts fell a bit flat, but let's be honest. No amount of visual appeal is going to convince Anders to eat his entire meal with the distractions of new friends and new toys close by. At least that's what I told myself Week 2 as I hurriedly threw together his lunch at the last minute. On the subject of school-worthy foods, let's all take a minute to mourn the PBJ. Anders' Mother's Day Out program is a nut-free environment due to the drastic increase in food allergies, and it is seriously throwing me for a loop. Every Tuesday morning all I can think about is peanut butter crackers, ants on a log, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and so on and so forth. Seasoned lunch-packers and creative minds, help me! I will say that I attempted to get Anders to eat a Dr. Praeger's broccoli pancake, and he (understandably) treated it as an assault against his senses, so that is not an option. 

Anders was pretty compliant when I went to take these pictures before his first day. Nevermind that the grass was wet, and I had to change his shorts before we left because the bottoms were completely soaked through. Woops! Also, I handed him the apple thinking it would make a sweet photo prop, and he promptly began eating it. I didn't want to discourage him from eating an apple, so I just let him go for it! Plus, I suspected he wouldn't eat his lunch and figured the apple would supplement his breakfast nicely!

When we arrived at his school the first morning, they had this precious little photo op set up for the kids. It's not the best picture, and there was so much going on that Anders would barely glance in my direction, but it's still fun!

My little man is growing up. I can hardly believe it. Thank you to everyone who is praying for him, his teachers, and his classmates!