So let's back up. Day 3- Thursday- I picked him up after watching in the window without him seeing me, for a long time. He made me so proud. He was such a good little kid- doing his art project at the table, reading books, sitting in the teachers lap, interacting with the other kids, etc. He looked a bit tired and a little dazed, but good! But as soon as I went in and he saw me, he ran over and started crying, and wanted to go home. At home he was less fussy than the other days, and ate a pretty good dinner. So that was better.
In the morning he was a bit fussy but not bad, and enjoyed our new book I got called "the kissing hand." it's about going to school. He was happy to go to school in the car, and walking in. His class was on the playground so I thought great! We went out there and he was a little clingy, but not bad. I asked him to show me how he goes on the slide and he did. (see pictures below).
Thats when it all went awry. He ran back over, clung on tight, started to cry and said, "mommy go home!" (meaning take me home). After that he was a total wreck. I tried to get him to show me the playhouse, but he wouldn't let go. In the end, the teacher pried him off me, kicking and screaming. I left and went to work, and was so thankful to run into one of my coworkers whose daughter is a similar age and also started her preschool this week. She gave me a hug, which I really needed. I was a waste of space at work all day. I was thankful to join a bunch of coworkers for a fun lunch out for burgers- took my mind off of how upset I was.
When I picked him up, it was a similar scene. He was great until he saw me and then he got upset. The teachers said once again he didn't eat or sleep, and this time he cried during nap and said he wanted to go home.
Looking forward now to a quiet, sleep- filled weekend before we start all over again Monday!
Hey Christie. Just wanted to encourage you to hang in there. After watching literally more than 100 kids start preschool at Naia & Gabriel's school over the past three years, I can assure you that you are not alone. In fact, you're in good company. If a two year old doesn't cry the first week, they are the abnormal ones. I would guess fewer than 10% of new kids don't spend the ENTIRE first week crying. Many spend more than that. Those who spend more than a week crying are the ones whose parents feel conflicted and the kids can sense that. So my (totally unsolicited) advice is to know this is the right thing (which I'm sure it is), demonstrate that confidence to Griffin, give him a huge hug and a kiss every morning and walk straight out the door with an encouraging smile your face. No matter what he's doing. The faster you get out of there, the better. He knows you love him. He just needs to see that you KNOW this is the right place for him. I hope this helps, or at least gives another perspective. :) Take care and hugs to G.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement Kelly!!! Great to hear from you- even far away is not very far. :)
Delete