New city & state, new house, new school, new grade...the newness all sort of smacked our little kiddo in the face on the very first day of school. I think he panicked and for the first time ever our family got a taste of separation anxiety. Boy, it's rough.
Since G.Q. has always been an easy going little guy, never shy or afraid to really try anything, when that moment that he didn't want to go into school and was pretty much refusing and trying to go the opposite direction of the school, I panicked. How to tell a little one everything is going to be alright when you're crying yourself? Thankfully, I had sunglasses on and G.Q. didn't notice me crying. And a double thank you that daddy was there and saved the day. He was able to talk G.Q. down and walk him into his class and out the door. I don't know if I could have done that with out much drama. Way to go daddy...he deserves big props for that!
I knew that G.Q. would have a great first day at school and that thought was confirmed when I picked him up. First thing he did was apologize for acting up at drop-off and then he told me how much he liked his teacher and school. Made me feel so much better! Days two and three were super-easy drop-off wise. Day four...not so much. This time it was all mommy forcing him into his class and walking away. Gut-wrenching! Forcing him into something he clearly doesn't want to do, knowing he's sad and afraid and I give a shove and run the other way. Way to make me feel like complete crap. I immediately went home and began to worry about how he was doing and wondering if I could help him get over this anxiety. I worried that never sending him to day care or preschool was the right choice, if staying home with me was really as good for him as we thought it was. Then I realized his anxiety was giving me anxiety and I worrying for no real reason. I turned to the trusty internet to help me find some answers. I found a book that I thought might help out a bit and immediately downloaded it. Freeing Your Child from Anxiety: Powerful, Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Child's Fears, Worries and Phobias by Tamar Ellsas Chansky. I don't know if it will be the solution to our morning jitters but it's worth a shot; anything to make him feel better. I'll review the book and let you know how it's working for us after I've finished it...stay tuned.
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