�Mommy, can I go put my apple on the tree?� a little voice asked in my ear early this morning. Bleary-eyed, it took me a minute to figure out what AJ was talking about. And then I remembered: first day of school. In AJ�s new classroom, we were informed at Friday�s orientation, the children should come in, put their belongings in their assigned cubbies and then find the mat with a laminated paper apple with their name on it. After sticking the apple on a paper tree on the classroom wall � a sort of self-selecting head count � the children were to return to their mats and wait for class to start. The children all nodded very seriously at these instructions on Friday. This morning, however, was another story. AJ was the first of the mob of children to sprint into the classroom, the first to find his apple and the first to put it up on the tree. That was, however, where the following of instructions ended. Immediately he and all the rest of the kids started tearing around the classroom, pulling toys off shelves and screaming. Teaching preschool looks a lot like organizing a circus of ill-behaved animals.

I have to admit that the apple tree decorating the wall looks pretty cute. But it seems to have engendered a misbelief on AJ�s part that real apples can be put back on trees. This weekend we were pruning the dwarf apples in our backyard and were careful to avoid the still ripening fruit. AJ, however, decided to pull off an apple for a closer look and was most distressed when he discovered he was unable to put it back.

Parents (myself included) were causing a lot of the first day chaos by whipping out cameras at every possible photo op. Out in the hall, though, there was one big group of happy mommies. The mother of the triplets in AJ�s class was practically dancing a jig. �You must be very excited,� someone said to her. �You have no idea,� she replied. �I don�t think I�ve had a minute alone in three and a half years.�

But at the same time we mothers are a bit guilty about that time alone. I had non-stop AJ dreams last night. In one I was watching his class sitting cross-legged in a circle on the floor eating their snack � pumpkin pie. In another AJ�s aunt was helping me get him dressed for school. He refused to wear anything in his dresser and instead chose a grey turtleneck and a pair of safety orange overalls from a box of his outgrown clothes. They were way too small, but he was excited to wear them anyway. As I tried to take them off, he ran off to show his dad, ran into the door of his room and knocked himself unconscious. I picked up his inert form and ran around the house calling for my husband to help. Good morning, Dr. Freud!

I am determined not to spend the morning worrying about nothing. Time to work.

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