James is a week into pre-kindergarten and things are going well. He’s excited to go to school, and when I drop him off he runs ahead of me to say hi to his friends and teachers. After school, he gives me a big hug at pick up, and then he talks my ear off about everything he did. It’s my favorite part of the day.

Today I picked him up, and he gave me a half-hearted hug. I thought he was sad to leave school, so I didn’t press it. He told me a bit about his day, but by the time we got home, I could tell something was up.

We sat down on the front porch to dump out his shoes (he always brings half the sandbox home in his shoes), and he was listless.

So I said, “Hey…did something bad happen at school?” I figured he’d probably been admonished for talking or wiggling around. But he looked at me, burst into tears, and said, “I BONKED MY HEAD ON ANOTHER BOY’S HEAD!”

My poor little guy. I gave him lots of hugs and kisses (and told him to tell a teacher the next time he got hurt), and then I asked him, “What can we do to make you feel better?” I thought for sure that he’d suggest ice cream or a lollipop, but nope.

“I wanna put my feets in a bowl of water.”

This kid is so weird. But sure enough…

his feets are wet

Who knew that a nice “feets” soak could make a four-year-old feel better?