The power of "Panda"

I am so proud of Lucas and how brave he is when we get to school and he kisses me at the door and says, "Bye Bye Mommy." Part of it is that we have a routine for "on the way to school" and we don't deviate from it.

Last week, his teacher told me that Lucas only really asks for me when it's nap time. And she also said that he takes forever to go to sleep, if at all (something I am all too familiar with). She suggested that I bring a stuffed animal or something from home that he likes to have during his nap. Well, Lucas sleeps with a big brown bear and a tiny panda. (We got the panda at the National Zoo when we were visiting Doug a few months ago while he was there on business.) So I decided on taking the panda to school, because it's so small and would be easy to transport back and forth.

So, on Tuesday, I told Lucas on the way to school that we were taking Panda so he would have him during his nap. He was excited and when we arrived at school he proudly showed it to his teacher. And voila! He napped quicker and better than before.

Well, this morning we were running a little late and when we got on the bus, I realized that I forgot Panda. I looked over at Lucas and thought, "Should we go back and get it? Will he even notice? Does he even care? " I decided to just let it go and not mention it. About 10 seconds later, he looked up at me and said, "Where's Panda?" My heart sank. I knew there was going to be trouble. I told him I would go back home and get Panda and drop him off. He started to cry a little, but we made it to school. When we walked in the classroom and his teacher leaned down and hugged him, Lucas fell apart. With his face covered in tears, he said, "I forgot my Panda!"

What a moment! So I told him I would go get Panda and drop him off before his nap. He was still sad when I left, but he was being very brave. I rushed right home to get Panda and return him to school AND I called the National Zoo and ordered another one so we don't need to transport Panda back and forth anymore. Of course, it was tricky getting another one because they sell about 100 different pandas. Luckily, the second woman I spoke with knew just which one I needed!

I learned a few valuable lessons today. Lucas loves Panda more than I thought. And, he thinks about things more than I realize sometimes. One little deviation from the routine can ruin the entire drop off process. And he has an incredible memory! I should have never underestimated the power of "Panda."