The preschool blues
January 5, 2010 by Shannon
My baby is going to preschool this morning. A full-fledged, two-day-a-week, preschool complete with all the activities that preschoolers do — circle time, independent play, art time…even swimming lessons. Yes, swimming lessons! My little boy is going to learn to swim!
I’m so nervous. Kellan is too. He’s worried about not knowing anyone in the class. Fortunately he has met one of his teachers several times. But…
Before Christmas I dropped him off in the childcare area at the Y (he’ll be going to the Y preschool, but it’s not the same area as childcare) so I could squeeze in a short workout. It was his first time in that particular childcare environment, and admittedly, it was a little chaotic. I was a little overwhelmed, so I can only imagine how he was feeling. Still, he smiled and waved happily as I walked out the door. When I returned, he was standing in the middle of the room by himself on the verge of tears. As soon as he saw me, he let loose, barely able to gasp out the answers to my questions of “What’s wrong? What’s the matter?” The teachers tell me he was fine, but just didn’t want to play with any of the toys or sit down and listen to a story. Hmm. Not sure that bodes well for this morning.
So I’m on edge — hoping he’s okay, hoping he’s having fun, hoping he’s engaged and happy. And if he’s not, maybe he will be on Day #2? I hope?
Comments (2)
I saw your twitter and that he was fine! Yeay!! Congratulations. From a teacher’s POV, just keep smiling, keep telling him when you’ll return, keep telling him he’ll have a fantastic day. And eventually you won’t worry either.
I haven’t had to go through that yet, but I’ve had several friends tell me that it takes about two weeks before kids get comfortable in a new preschool class - and after that they’ll be sad on the days they don’t get to go! That’s a whole different kind of mommy sadness.