NoYes

A most terriblewonderful thing has happened since Isaac started pre-school.

He has new expressions. That I have not taught him. That I have no idea from whence they came. For example:

Until pre-school, he would reply "Okay" for any yes answer.
"Isaac, do you want to go to the playground?""Okay."
"Did you like that song?" "Okay."
"Is your foot stuck?" "Okay."
"Is it time for Elmo?" "Okay."

But now, he has added "Yep." to his repertoire. And also, "Um, yeah."

I know it sounds like a little thing, but it feels enormous. Just a tiny change in his lingo, but a change that I had nothing to do with. I'm embarrassed to admit that this devastates me, just a little.

You see, up until this point, everything that Isaac has learned, I have been a part of. These new words do not come from me. They do not even come from another person that I know. They come from school, a place where I will never be with him.

On the one hand, it's really cute to hear his new words. He's doing so well at school, learning how to get along with other kids, learning to share, learning new phrases. I'm proud of the way he has taken to school, and it's nice that he can have such a great time without me. But still, it's without me. This is the very beginning of his venture to become a person in his own right, separate from me, and maybe I'm not quite ready for it.

Some other things he says now:
"More, please!" in a sing-songy way.
"No, thanks."
"Nope."
And my personal favorite, "NoYes."

I don't think he even knows what that one means, but he's been saying it pretty regularly. I have to ask him, "What does that mean? No or yes?" And he'll answer, "Okay." Or, "Yeah."

If you were to ask me: Am I proud of my little guy for acclimating so well to pre-school?, I'd have to answer:

"NoYes."