Playschool

Jay's in the Playschool program. It started on Tuesday. Cut to the chase...he cried when I left. :( It broke my heart to hear him crying as I left him, and it drove me crazy not knowing how things were going for the rest of the class. Brian came with us for this momentous occasion, and as it turns out, Brian was more of a support to me than to Jaydon. Brian and I had lunch together afterward and that gave me some distraction while Jay was in class. When I picked Jay up, he was sitting with the rest of the kids enjoying story time. He was excited to see me and was happy about the class. He told me very matter-of-factly when I saw him, "I missed you, Mom. I cried."

Ms. Y told me he cried for about 5 minutes. Then he stuck by her side for a little while. When Ms. Y told Jaydon she had to go help another child who was having trouble, Jay was ok with her leaving his side. From that point on, Ms. Y said he was fine and started having a good time.

Today was his second class. There were tears again. This time Ms. Y said he cried for about 3 minutes. Ms. Y had to help another child, at which point Jay proceeded to work on a craft on his own and was good henceforth. Today when I picked Jay up, he was excited to show me some of the projects he had done, especially a painting he had done of a tree.

For next Tuesday, Ms. Y asked Jay to meet her with a big smile and big hug. We all hope so! I don't know if I can bear to leave him crying again...it feels AWFUL! Maybe I'm not ready for school yet!!!

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From the moment Jay knew about the class (with no Mommies and Daddies), he had been super excited about starting school. We had visited the school a couple of times before his first day. He had met his teacher and a couple of the students. Things looked promising for the first day. He didn't sleep well the night before his first class (coughing some through the night) and my guess is that contributed to his anxiety for the first class. It also could be that this was the first time I've ever actually left him anywhere without me.

Even after his separation anxiety the first class, he was still excited to go back for his second class. He did say to me this morning,"I don't want to go to school", which I responded with, "Do you think today will be the day you have a race on the track?". This perked him up - he is so excited about racing on the track - and he didn't ask again to stay home. All went smoothly getting to school. Jay walked happily with me to his classroom, but when it was time for me to leave, the tears started rolling. Broke my heart.