In Which Max Has His First School Experience (Sort Of)

Alternate title: How Chelsa has allowed her overprotective inclinations to shape her life and the lives of those around her

This month, I have begun substituting a little bit at the preschool where I used to work. Yesterday, I brought Max with me, in the interests of conducting a little social experiment. Query: Could Chelsa cope with being a teacher and a mama simultaneously, and could Max cope with sharing his mom and his space without being utterly hampered socially by her presence? It seems that the answer is yes to both parts, at least so far. I really enjoyed being back and teaching, and Max had A BLAST running, biking, climbing, sliding, painting, drawing, building, eating, dressing up, getting undressed, and etc. Although, if you ask him what he did at school, he will answer: I got a boo boo. And he did. He slipped and scraped his knee like, five minutes after he arrived. With a keen eye for the dramatic, though, he has apparently decided that the story of his day peaked there, and further information will just detract from the narrative arc.
In light of the success of our experiment (the other half of the offspring juggling party, Maggie, stayed home with Ian, and they evidently had a delightful time, too, without even a boo boo to mar their day), I am thinking that I will substitute more often, allowing me to make a little extra cash, get out and about, and most importantly, feel like I am giving Max the social experience and greater independence of preschool without actually having to let him out of my sight very often. I wonder if I can employ a similar technique when he starts high school? Or dating? Good grief.