Ainsley first experiences with school were wonderful. The first days I dropped her off, she ran straight in to play with the toys. She didn't talk to the other kids, but was willing to walk up to them and play next to them. She didn't even blink when I hugged her goodbye to leave.
That was the first two weeks.
After that, things started to unravel. I noticed that she wasn't eating any of her lunch. She would start to get whiny and upset the night before when she knew the morning meant school. She started crying and wimpering when I'd leave her in the morning.
It all went south quickly on the day I went to the Pumpkin Patch with her. She was quite upset that I would be leaving her at school for the second half of the day. She cried as I left, but this was getting to be normal. I thought little of it.
Until I pulled back in to the daycare parking lot after work. She was standing at the playground fence shaking with tears. Still. She had cried for the entire 4 hours I was gone to work (minus the time she had fallen asleep). Whoa. This girl has stamina.
The next few weeks were terrible. She's start hyperventilating when we talked about school. She'd always want to know where we were going when getting in the car. She wanted nothing to do with school. Questioning her about it didn't help. She wouldn't tell me anything besides "I don't like school."
I emailed her daycare teacher wondering what I could do. She assured me that it was just that one time that Ainsley cried for so long. On other days, she was really quite well adjusted. This calmed me somewhat, but at home Ainsley was still hysterical on the nights before and mornings of going to school.
She just wanted to stay with her Mama. She wanted her Mama to "hold me". Oh, child.
Tuesdays and Thursdays came and went. Morning school drama everyday. She refused to eat breakfast if she was being forced to go to school. She cried in the car on the way to school. She cried as we walked in to school. She cried as we took her backpack off. She screamed as I tried to hug her goodbye. She would have to be physically restrained by the teacher in order for me to leave the room.
I kept thinking that her teacher must hear the Darth Vadar theme playing in her head when she sees us. That poor, patient woman.
A co-worker of mine actually bought us a book to help out. Boy, did it help!
We read the book over and over again. We role played. I played the part of Little Llama while Ainsley played the part of Mama going to work. If you know our Ainsley, you know she LOVES to role play.
The next Tuesday came, and Ainsley was only whimpering and unhappy. Progress! No physical retraining necessary, but definitely tears. Her teacher could tell that I needed a little reassurance that she was having ANY fun at school. So she emailed me these pics of Ainsley during the day...
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| She was obviously being tortured. Forced to play outside. |
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Forced to play inside.
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| I'm starting to wonder if she's been a bit dramatic about this whole "school" thing. |
Today, we didn't have a single tear as Mama Llama dropped off her Little Llama.
And before I forget the precious little memories concerning her first year at school...here are a few tidbits I need to preserve.
1) First chosen books from the library. (She told me she found Wrigley!)
2) She has learned that firemen have elephant noses.
3) Her teachers have told me that she is the "Playground Police".
4) They even say she is never a discipline problem. Obviously a lie.
5) She is scared of the sound of the flusher on the toilet. It is too loud. She has the teachers flush it for her every time.
6) She likes to play with a girl named Grace.
7) She doesn't know the names of anyone else.
8) She tells the teacher that the sun hurts her. She just wants to sit in the shade. Sit? Who is this strange child?
We'll see what the coming months bring!
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