Summary: Rocky start. Great ending.
We were up bright and early this morning. (Seven A.M. is early for us!) After getting ready and eating breakfast, I (and Sean) walked Michael the 5 blocks to his new school. (Fifteen minute commute versus last year’s 3 – 4 hour commute: yes!)
Everything was all smiles…until we reached the school. I knew that a meltdown was forthcoming, because it was sensory overload for me. All of the kids were in the cafeteria (for safety reasons) by class. It was so many people in one spot and noisy – you know that first day chaos. Michael looked at me and started to tear up. He wanted to go home with me. Although I was tempted to take him, I put on the confident “mom face” and assured him that everything would be okay. Once I explained that this wasn’t his class, just the meet up point, he was fine. It also helped that he has the nicest teacher in the school (my biased first impression). She distracted him by talking about Spiderman/sharing that Spiderman was from Queens. I wasn’t able to see his new class, but he was fine as he left with “Mrs. C.” and the rest of his class.
Now, I have to find something to do with Sean. From the moment Michael left with his class, he was saying, “I want to go with Michael. I want Michael. I want to be in Michael’s school!” (I know that I had prayed for them to be close as brothers, but still….) When we returned home, Sean staged a one toddler sit-in by refusing to get out of the stroller until we went to get Michael. I “broke” him with the offer of pudding. He continued to moan for his brother. Finally, I have him the t-shirt that Michael had slept in the night before and that quieted him. (It really was sweet and sad at the same time.) Thankfully, school was only 3 hours today.
At pick-up, Michael was happy. He enjoyed his class and he likes his teacher. Of course this is only day one, but the school year is off to a great start overall…
I took a picture of Michael, but I’ve decided that I won’t share his pictures in relation to school online. He’s getting to be a big(ger) kid and I want to respect his space. Now Sean, on the other hand, is still fair game. Smile.
