Back to School

Today was Shane's first day back at school in a few weeks.

The phone rang mid-morning and provided a nice little jolt of adrenaline when I read and re-read the name of Shane's preschool on caller ID. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the person who called—the only thing I cared about in that moment was hearing "Shane's okay...we just want to let you know..."—everything else just sounded like the muted-trumpet vocalizations of Charlie Brown's teacher.

And luckily, I heard those words. The school was calling to say that Shane informed them that he's pretty tired and would rather just sit and read a book. Kylee and I have tried on numerous occasions to inform our kids of that exact fact, but they didn't seem to care and just kept jumping on us.

I asked about his coloring (facially, not crayonally) and they said it's fine, he just looked tired.

Whew.

We'll keep him home a couple days this week and continue to let him slowly get back into the groove of being an (over)active four year old.

Here's a snippet of our night-time-routine-ending conversation tonight:
"Dad, I'm so glad I can hear now!"
"Me, too, Shane..."
"But I'm also glad I don't have those white things."
"What white things?"
"The things that held my arms down."
"Oh...me, too. You had to wear them so you wouldn't pull out your tube. You had a tube to help you breathe."
"I have a tube in my chest?" (he looks down his shirt)
"No, you had one, but now you don't. It made you feel all better!"
"What else made me feel better?"
"Hm...medicine, doctors, nurses. A lot of friends came to see you and say hi. The best of all, God made you feel better!"

A look of satisfaction and contentment came over his face as he nodded with pursed lips. I kissed him goodnight and he reminded me not to turn on the shower because it hurts his ears (too loud in his room). Okay, I guess I'll shower in the morning.

Nigh-night, Shaney.