not to us

Alright, seriously...

Some of you don't believe me when I tell you that my mom was super-ultra-extreme-overly-anal protective of me when I was a kid.  You really don't believe me.

Well, buckle your seatbelts...

I've got proof.

I told you all earlier that today was Ruby's first day of daycare.  Since Mike will be starting a new position soon (and working ten-hour days), we felt that it was unfair to ask our friends to care for Ruby during that time.  We thought it would be better to go ahead and get her in a program where she will have a structured environment.  I didn't really feel safe or comfortable with any of the programs here in town, plus, the logistics would have been hard.  (I'm not saying there are no good daycare programs in town.  I'm simply saying I did not have the time to properly research my options.)

So...we decided that Ruby will go to Terre Haute on M, T, Th, and F.  She will attend the state-certified daycare at my mom's hospital from 8-4:30 on those days.  Poppa will be in charge of getting her ready in the morning and picking her up in the afternoon, since Nana also works ten-hour days.

Today was an exception.  Today was just a trial day.  Today, Nana and Poppa worked together to get Ruby ready for her first day of daycare.  Judging by the pictures I just received from Poppa, I feel very safe saying that Nana was in charge of Ruby's outfit today.

You all know that Ruby has a peanut allergy, right?  It's pretty serious.  She could die.  This daycare understands that, and they are trained for these types of allergies.  Not only that, but the daycare is literally located AT THE HOSPITAL.  If she were to have a reaction, it would be a sixty second walk to the emergency room.

Anyway...we informed the daycare of Ruby's allergy.  The allergy is listed in all of her paperwork.  The teachers in her classroom know about her allergy.  There are no peanut products served in her classroom.

However, those precautions were not enough for my mother.  Oh no...

She had to send my precious, adorable, beautiful, socially adept little girl to her first day of daycare wearing THIS:

A shirt that is AIRBRUSHED with the following words: "I'm allergic to Peanuts."  with an AIRBRUSHED PEANUT right in the center.

I could not make this up if I tried, people.  I could not.

I am more thankful today than ever before that we got pregnant with Burke this early.  If Ruby was old enough to go to school with kids who could read, can you IMAGINE the torture to which she would be subjected??  Seriously, can you imagine?

Thankfully, the kids cannot read, and they all seem to be accepting Ruby, peanut allergy and all:

And Ruby doesn't seem to understand that she's wearing a shirt that looks like it was pulled *straight* out of the early '90s and literally screams, "I'm DIFFERENT!!  Be AFRAID of ME!!"

Anyway, I laughed so hard that I cried when I saw these pictures, and I just had to share them with you.  I'm just amazed at how grown up my little girl looks when she's in a classroom.  And I'm simply amazed that I turned out as normal as I did, knowing that these are the sort of things I was subjected to before I had a formalized permanent memory.

This is good stuff, people, is it not??  I hope you got a good laugh out of my child's first day of "school."  I sure did.  :)