Let's just say the first day of school (Tuesday, 9/3) for Sawyer didn't go like I'd hoped. He wasn't happy at breakfast and he didn't like any of the 3 outfit choices I'd laid out for him. He didn't want to go to school. He wasn't gonna like his class. He wanted to just stay home. He wanted his PawPaw Benny to come up and play.
Finally, I convinced him that he needed to give school a try and be brave. I mean this is his 3rd and final year at the preschool. I told him he could pick his own outfit...as seen below...and he could just peek in the classroom first to see what he thought.
 |
| Here he is...Mr. Unhappy |
So on the ride to school I unsuccessfully tried to cheer Saw up and my speech about how much fun he would have fell on deaf ears. Once outside his classroom door he put his face against the hall wall and muttered that, "He didn't like this class." It was pitiful. I finally told him I needed to go and I promised him that I would stay right there at the school and NOT go home without him. I lied. But he doesn't know it. The teacher swept him up in her arms...he cried.
And I died.
It took all I had not to tear up myself. My brain knows that he will have fun, that this is a good social and academic learning experience, & that he will forget about this moment, but my heart was ripping apart. It is in those moments that you feel like the meanest, worst mom of all time.
And then there is The Sass...
On Sawyer's first day we walked past the classroom that would be Sass' on M, W, F. She would NOT even look at it. She promised that she would NOT be happy. She swore she would NOT go in. She was NOT going to school. She did NOT like her teacher and would NOT play with other little girls. She stressed out all day because people kept saying..."Are you ready for school tomorrow?" She was literally exhausted from the emotional worry and went to bed early. Needless to say my hopes were not high for a tear/scream free drop off.
**************************************
The next day (today) was The Sass' first day of school. She got up happy. Ate breakfast happy. Got dressed happy. Put on her backpack happy. But then I said I wanted to take her picture. Uh...no go. Not taking pictures today, people.
We somehow got in the car, Sass fully distracted by the fact that Saw had lost his tennis shoes and was unhappy about wearing his crocs to school. The same crocs he HAD to wear yesterday. We rode to school happy. We arrived happy. We walked up to the door happy. And then when the teacher came to the door...she FREAKED OUT! She begin to wail, noodle up and melt to the floor, and overall lose her mind. (btw...noodle up is what I call it when a child goes completely limp and you are left trying to lift up dead weight). But as a mom of 4...2 of which were also 'freaker-outers' in the 2 year old class...I picked her noodle body up & took her inside the classroom. I peeled her off and tried to show her some toy horses. I might've been showing her live scorpions by the crazed look in her eye. Her teacher, whom I've known for like 6 years now, took her from me. I promised her that I would be right back to get her. I walked out of the class to the beat of her screams and took Saw to his classroom. Oh, and he high-fived me and walked in like he owned the joint. On my way back to the car I stopped at Sass' classroom to listen...no crying at all. Phew!!
When I picked Sass up...she ran out the door all smiles and hugged me oh so tight. She said she had a great time. She loved "...playing play-doh and singing songs and there were some funny boys there and she had Cheer-o's and she played horses and there were some cute babies who wanted to hold her hand." "Babies?" I queried. "Yes, they were so cute, Mom." I figured out later these were the other little girls in her class...she thinks she's much older and that they are babies.
A funny: Her teacher has known her since birth and called her Sassy up until now...now it's Dixie at school. But boy oh boy, her teacher told me that the name Sass fit her to a T! When the teacher asked to paint her hand, she haughtily said, "No." When asked again later she said, "I don't think so." When asked if they could paint her hand Friday she said, "Maybe." So after playing and having a snack the teacher asked one more time...could they go ahead and paint her hand now? Sass replied, "Um, no, you said I could wait til Friday."
Later while on the playground...her first time on the playground as a full-fledged student..the playground she's been talking about all summer...she grabbed her teacher's hand and said, "Let's go inside and paint our nails, hmm?" This from a kid who wouldn't even let them paint her hand 15 minutes ago.
 |
| Happy girl! After school photo op! |
 |
| The new and improved Mr. Happy showing off his sticker he received at school! |
but there is always tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment