I'll be the first to admit that I've been a little nuts lately -- or at least more nuts than usual. But at least I'm not completely crazy. Not to be too judgmental or anything, but there is a fellow Mom at Matthew's preschool who IS crazy. Nearly every time we've spoken, she's informed me (and re-informed me) that her son, Theodore, based on his birthday, should be in the older preschool class. That class, however, was full and she therefore settled on Theodore joining Matthew's "Almost 3's" class. She reminds me (nearly every week, lest I've forgotten) that Theodore is not only older than the other children (his birthday is 13 days before Matthew's) but far more advanced and is "ready" for the more mature group of preschool scholars. Now, OK, fine and good. I can accept the fact that Theodore is, indeed, eligible for the older group. I would even be perfectly agreeable to his being "ready" for the older group if he was actually "ready." But the fact of the matter is, every time that I've helped out in Matthew's class, Theodore is the weird kid. You know, the token odd child in the class (although let's face it, at 3 years old, all of the kids are a bit odd). But Theodore's been the one requiring the most hand-holding, scolding, reminding and general assistance.

Today was picture day -- our first ever school picture day. It was a special and stress-filled, hair-slicking-down, shirt-tucking-in, snotty-nose-wiping extravaganza of a day. Due to the excitement, most of us parents hung around class today. Once the photo shoot was done, the parents retreated out into the hallway where you can discreetly (noses pressed to the glass) watch your offspring's every movement while in class. Theodore's mom and I were amicably chatting outside (about...guess what! Preschool! And how Theodore needs out of this far-inferior group) when, she stopped talking, looked in the classroom window and with the zest of a fan at a soccer match exclaimed, "Yes! Theodore!! Good boy, throwing away your Tang Dixie cup!....Now, go push in your chair. Oh, no! Don't get side-tracked by the books. Go back to the table. Hmmm, we'll have to work on that." I'm all for applauding the skills of your child and all, but I do have to say that I'm growing tired of the parental-pressures that I'm privy to. Why can't our kids just be normal?! What's wrong with being an average three-year-old?! [Did you read my blog yesterday, by the way, about what a genius Zachary is? Oh, and of course we all know that Matthew is a musical prodigy...but I digress.] Anyway, peeking back in the window at preschool, I watched as Matthew did NOT throw away his Dixie cup nor did he push in his chair before trotting happily over to the truck table. Ms. Susan, gently herded him back to the required tasks -- dixie cup removal and chair-pushing duty. But boy! Was I happy to see just how NORMAL my son is.