The School Chronicles - 2

I have to mention here that i was really panicky about how my baby (of course, now i understand why a kid is always a baby for the parents no matter how old he/she is!) would cope up with school. I like to think of myself as very practical person but it just does not work when it comes to A. So, i was overly critical of everything in the beginning.

We started out with researching and checking out the places in our neighborhood. The first place we went, we took an instant dislike as we felt it was too cramped. The second school (School A) was something we liked immediately as it was a nice, big, and cheerful place. The classrooms were very likeable. The major attraction was they had a huge Gym room which was indoor and could be used even in the winter as a playground when they could not go out. The other bonus here was they had cameras and you could watch your kid at school.

However, they did not have any open slots and there was a waiting list. We decided to list A's name for any available open slot ASAP. In the meanwhile, we checked out some other places and decided to enroll him in School B till the time we secured admission in School A.

Then began our preparations for the first day. I guess i was more psyched than anybody else. We started preparing A in advance by telling him that he would be meeting new friends, playing new games, toys etc and he would have a good time. We also made him aware that he would be on his own and mamma would pick him up after a couple of hours.

The first day dawned and it had snowed the previous night making it extremely cold. We got A dressed in warm clothes, gave him his school bag and we were ready! We reached school, completed the formalities and then took A to his classroom. As expected, he started crying that we should not leave him, but we hugged him and told him he would be allright. H left for office as i had decided to stay on and wait in the reception to check things out. Every few minutes, i would head out to check without being seen by A. He cried and cried and cried. I was heartbroken and felt so guilty. The worst part was that the teachers just ignored him. I was furious by this behaviour. I do understand that they are professionals and have certain rules, but we had already spoken to them about our relocation, etc and how A would need a little extra attention initially to get used to new surroundings.

So, anyways H came to pick us up after a few hours and A was more than happy to come home with us. I spoke to H and we decided that i would wait with him in class for the next couple of weeks/days based on how A was coping up. I did understand that this would only make it more difficult for A to adjust, but my heart was just not willing to let him be ignored like that. So, the next few weeks i would sit in the class and observe from a distance. To my dismay, i really disliked the place. For one, it was essentially a day care contrary to what they marketed and the teachers just supervised! Initially, i thought i should give it a little time and things would work themselves out. But, the more i observed the more it became apparent that i did not want to send my kid there. The other reason was the distance from our place and the commute was getting hectic for H.

Fortunately, by this time we received a call from School A that there was an open slot and we could enroll A. We were a little apprehensive after the first experience but decided we should be positive. The other advantage was the cameras. The first day went off pretty well and A had a pretty good time. The major difference was the teachers were really friendly and made him feel special.

For the last couple of summer months, he has been having a blast with field trips to the zoo, aviary etc. He has now started liking the place and actually looks forward to the 3 days he goes to school. We are also quite comfortable now that our little one has made the transition, but i am still far from sending him there full-time and getting back to work. I guess i need more time to cross that bridge.