Last year at this time, I was wrestling with the concept that my 3 year old who had been home with me full time since he was born would be going off to school for the first time–dropping him off somewhere, no matter how nurturing and cuddly, seemed like the end of the world for me.  Not knowing how my son would deal with his first separation, I read books with him about preschool–What to Expect in Preschool, The Kissing Hand, My First Day of Nursery School–we role played school, I bought him a new backpack (and filled with with stuff he didn't need)…and he adapted to a school schedule without a hitch.

The 3 hours a day that my son was in school seemed like an eternity…until pickup time came, and I marveled at how I had generally done little during my 'found time' besides have a cup of coffee and feed the baby.

This summer seems like a crossroads once again, as I'm both thrilled and weepy that my 4 year old will be in school for an extra 2 hours a day…and will be carrying his lunch to school and eating at school.  Lunch away from home is going to be the biggest change for him this year, so I'm wracking my brain at how to make his takeaway lunches special.  My main back to school focus this year? Finding the perfect lunchbox. Scouring the web as we speak…

Oh, and I guess I should learn more about the ERBs that he has to take in the Fall so that we can apply to Kindergarten!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get a HarperCollins book set. For more information on how you can participate, click here.