day 2.

This little guy made his momma cry this morning... 

His first day of school was great. Just a little bit of hesitation. No tears at all.
So I wasn't prepared for Day 2.

Our school doesn't assign teachers for kindergarten for the first 5 days of school.
They mix the kids all up and rotate them between two of the three classes. The third teacher observes and makes notes about behavior, academics, etc. This helps them get an idea of ways to divide the kids into 3 relatively balanced classes. As a teacher, I understand the reasons for it. But as a mommy... especially a mommy of a kiddo like this... it is really, really hard.

I should have prepared him better. Talked to him more about the fact that he would start the morning in a different classroom... he would probably be with different kids... he might not be with Ezra or Luke (two of his best buddies)... it would be different than the day before. I should have gone over all this with him. But I didn't.

I also should have gone over some of the kindergarten stuff with Daddy, who was dropping him off these first two days of school. Things like... if he gets scared, or starts clinging to you, or starts crying... give him to a teacher and walk out. They know how to handle it. They know how to calm these scared little people. It's okay for him to be upset and have you leave. You don't have to be the one to calm him down. That's what the teachers will do. I should have talked to him about this. But I didn't.

So I was caught off guard when a very frustrated Corey showed up at my classroom door at 8:00 this morning with a sobbing Lawson. A loud sobbing Lawson. This was a morning I was actually glad that my kids go to computers at 8:10. I got my kids settled, then walked Lawson back down to kindergarten. Unfortunately, there was a lot more crying. Still very loud crying. The kind of crying that brings all available staff members in that direction to see if they can help. The kind of crying that makes mommy end up giving him a big hug and a kiss, telling him I love him and that he will be okay, and then pushing him into the arms of a kindergarten teacher, and walking away. Walking away... hiding around the corner... and then starting to cry myself.

Thankfully, we have some great staff members at our school.
He calmed down fairly quickly... I calmed down fairly quickly (after making a couple other staff members get teary just looking at me)... and we were both able to pull ourselves together. I even got a smile and a wave when I saw him at the assembly 45 minutes later. He did great the rest of the morning.

So I'm a little anxious about Monday.
I'm thinking I'll walk him down a few minutes early (so that I can make it back to my room across the building before the bell rings... it was easier with Sophie when I was just a few yards away), hand him off to a teacher, and look forward to Thursday when he will be assigned a permanent classroom and teacher. (Hopefully with one of his best buddies!)