First Days

7 September 2011

Today was a big day; a day of 'firsts'. Lily started her new school this morning. She's been excited about today for weeks now, so dropping her off at the new school gates this morning wasn't too daunting as she was so keen to embrace her new routine. She meet up with many of her new school friends on occasions over the summer, so her new friendships were already partly formed which will give her a head start from a social aspect. It was such wonderful feeling to walk to school too, something we couldn't really do when she was at her old school due to the distance.

The harder part of today was taking Arthur for his first day at play school. It's the first time he has been left anywhere unfamiliar to him. I had taken him for a settling in morning earlier in the summer and I'm sure he recognised certain things this morning. I stayed with him for around 15 minutes and then decided to leave him. There is no pressure to stay with or leave your child. It's difficult to know what to do for the best. I didn't want to set a pattern of staying with him as he'd get use to it, so  with confidence in the staff I left. He cried, calling for me. I kept walking, without looking back. A horrible but eneviftable moment.

Back home, it felt strange. The house had never been so quite. There was so much for me to be getting on with, but I found my mind flitting to thoughts of wondering what Lily and Arthur are both doing. I kept myself busy at home willing for the midday pick up to come around so I could see Arthur and show him that mummy hadn't left him.

Arthur had cried for about an hour after I had left him. That's a long time and hard to stomach. However, he did eventually settle down and apparently enjoyed playing with the bikes and cars in the garden. When all the mums arrived to collect their children, he started crying again, so I was met with red teary eyes. We had a sticker on his t-shirt stating that he'd been a 'brave boy' on his first morning. I hoping tomorrow may be a little easier. Time will tell.

With Arthur back home, I watched the time eat into the afternoon waiting for the moment I could leave to collect Lily and hear all about her day. Lily had a very good day. She loved all of it. It's funny to look back at their reactions of today. It's almost like a role reversal. Lily was the one who wouldn't say boo to a goose, whilst Arthur is the happy-go-lucky confident one. It just goes to show that they both have other sides.

I know that this anxious time will be short lived and that before long, both Lily and Arthur will be settled into their new routines. I will settle to the adjustments too. There will be no time to dwell as I'll soon be back at work for the hours Arthur is away. At the end of the day it's nothing more than the next chapter in family life.

2 comments:

  1. I totally feel your pain - the toddler has just finished day 2 of 'settling in'. I feel like I need a badge saying 'I've been a very brave girl, well done'. sheesh. bring on the happy days....

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  2. Well, day two was better. Day three was really good - he settled much quicker and there were no 'pick up' tears. Back tomorrow for wk. 2 ... will be interesting how he is after a 4 day break.

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