I've Been Replaced

Today was Calvin's first day at Chinese preschool. No, we are not Chinese, but we are planning to move to China in a couple of years. Even though I am planning to mostly homeschool while we are there (by necessity), we couldn't pass up the chance for him to spend some time in a Chinese language environment. The school is the only one of its kind in our state, and it is five minutes from our house!

So, we visited back in December and have been talking it up all month. Calvin was really excited about it every time we mentioned it. Then he woke up this morning, crawled in our bed, and said, "I don't feel well. I don't think I can go to school today." (Um, shouldn't I have another few years before I start hearing that excuse?) He threw a fit getting ready to go. I was a typical mom on her child's first day of school, worried that Calvin wouldn't want me to leave or that he would cry all morning. But they had toy race cars! He didn't even notice I left, and when he got home, he immediately asked when he could go back. Who needs mom when you have race cars?

Turns out Hobbes was the one I needed to worry about, not Calvin. I had thought Hobbes would love the one-on-one time with Mommy that he has been missing all of his life. That we would have all sorts of fun play together and snuggle and read books. Instead, he threw a fit when we left Calvin at school. He cried for him all of the way home and burst out in extra loud sobs when we got home, "No! Get Calvin! Get Calvin!" All morning, he would periodically look up from his play and pitifully say his brother's name.

Needless to say, Hobbes was thrilled when we got in the car after lunch to go get his brother. Unfortunately, he fell asleep on the way there. After we got home and I put him in his bed, I got Calvin down for a nap. ( A bonus to this school thing is that Calvin comes home tired enough to nap.) A few minutes later, I heard a pitiful cry from the crib, "Calvin...? Calvin...?" So now they are both asleep in my bed, Hobbes snuggled close to his brother. And I am left out in the cold. Who knew someone could be better than mommy? But I am so glad they are friends. Really, I am.