Preschooler forcibly removed from class
AND so the saga of my son's first schooldays continues…
The second day of preschool approached and off we set again, my son was straining at the leash to get back into the classroom and I was relieved that he had enjoyed the experience so much, but what was he going to be like when mummy didn't stay for this session and turned to leave? I took off his coat and he careered into the classroom making a beeline for the school computer. I stood behind him trying to pick the right moment to go, all the parents had decided to slip off quickly.
"I'm going now honey. I'll be back in a little while to take you home," I said swallowing hard. There was no response as he glided the computer mouse around.
"I said I'm going now love, be back later."
"Ok mummy," he managed to utter in the midst of his computer trance and so I kissed him and turned on my heel, leaving without a backward glance. He was absolutely fine, he had loved his first day at school and obviously felt safe there and so I took a leisurely stroll home. On my 20-minute walk back to the house his little life flashed before me. I remembered when I'd seen his scrunched up face for the first time, he looked just like Popeye with one eye closed, his hand clenched into a fist which he had raised in the air at me as much as to say "how dare you interrupt my beauty sleep". I think the emergency caesarean had been quite a shock to both our systems!
I also found myself recalling the first time I took him outside in the garden for a walk. He fell over immediately and began to crawl through the daisies touching them in awe with his fingers then he pulled one and fell over from the force that he thought it would take to uproot the little weed. I remembered the first time his arms furled around my neck for a proper hug and the first time he said, 'I love you mummy'. I arrived back at the house in my haze of nostalgia and teary-eyed (parents seem to store all our children-related memories in our tear ducts!), put the key in the lock and was met by the most shocking sound I have ever heard, silence! Deadly silence! It was deafening. I can't remember the last time the house was so quiet (probably before my son was born).
I walked into the kitchen and put on the kettle. I had dreamed of having a cup of tea in peace for ages but it wasn't as wonderful as I thought it would be. I looked at the mess we'd left behind in our rush to get out to school and felt my eyes welling up, no I wasn't going to cry. My boy had walked into a schoolroom full of strangers, loved it and couldn't wait to get back again. I was very proud of my little man's behaviour.
If he could be a brave little soldier then so could I. I kicked off my shoes, drank my tea and watched a morning television show, something I hadn't done in quite a few years. It was a bit of a novelty but before I knew it, it was time to collect him again. He is only in for two and a half hours for the first few weeks. And I find rather than enjoying any sort of free time I am constantly clock watching, is this how it was going to be? I had planned on doing all sorts of things when he was at school but instead I am checking the time every few minutes to see if it is time to go and before I knew it I was off to pick him up again. I hoped and prayed that he had been all right but I knew in my heart he had been. I joined the throng of other mums and dads as we gathered outside waiting for the doors to open, it was a bit like the start of the Grand National, and then we were off. We rushed through the doors searching for our little ones and there he was playing at the computer again with another little boy. I tapped him on the shoulder, he turned and I was met with a look of horror,
“Time to go home love,” I said proffering his coat, and he screwed up his face and began to wail at the top of his lungs:
“I don’t want to go home!”
I was mortified and a little hurt, I was delighted that my son loved preschool so much but was simultaneously crushed that he wasn’t pleased to see me, but the scene didn’t end there I had to actually lift him off the bench while he protested with loud wails, bundle him into his coat and force him out the door. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to be the only parent having to wrestle her child out of the building!
As if that hadn’t been embarrassing enough he repeated the scene the next day when I went back to collect him. I had worried so much in this run-up to beginning preschool. I was concerned about him fretting for me or crying when I went away, I hadn’t allowed for the scenario that he would cry and refuse to come home every day while I struggled to forcibly remove him. Was that normal? That’s something you find out when you become a parent, namely; the characteristic of the normal child is he doesn’t act that way very often!
Here’s to happy schooldays!
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 8 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South west
