Little R's first day by himself at nursery school didn't seem so bad. Well, his second day was a little different.
We were almost in the school's driveway when Little R realised that I was probably going to leave him again. He backed away a bit as we neared the school's entrance. There were other children crying (I think it was hard for the kids because it was just after the winter holiday and a weekend). Although he was brave enough to let me take his winter gear off and replace his boots with indoor shoes, Little R grabbed onto me in frantic tears, "Mama, Mama!" He wouldn't go into the classroom. I had to pick up the sobbing 44 pound tot. Even then the teachers had to help keep him inside as I tried to back out of the classroom. It was painful, but I knew he was just learning, and his crying was a way of coping with his separation anxiety.
I went to pick him up at 11 AM. Before I even saw him, I could hear him crying. I asked Kyla if he had been crying the the whole two hours. The answer was pretty much "yes." She thought that were was about 5 minutes when he calmed down as he stared out the window, but he continued crying until I picked him up. He was so relieved, the poor little guy. He didn't have any snack, but he did manage to make a couple of pictures from bingo dabbers. The teacher said that half the time Little R was crying without tears. So, maybe it wasn't so bad.
Day three, I dropped off Little R as usual. DH picked him up, and the teacher told him that Little R cried for only the first hour then he was fine. The teachers were so very excited about this progress that they took pictures of him as he was doing arts and crafts!
Day four, as Little R and I crossed the main street on the way to the nursery school, I remembered that I had forgotten his bear at home! What was I to do? Going back to the house meant having to cross the main street again. With the high snow banks, no lights or crossing guard, and lots of cars, I didn't want to go back. I felt bad about it all the way. I told Little R that the bear was at home, and that he would have to be by himself at the centre.
I sat him down to change him out of his winter gear. He was still knowing of the fact that I was going to leave, but he wasn't in tears. He was a little anxious, and he tried pulling me to the exit twice, but I managed to leave him with one of the teachers. I felt so bad seeing him peering from the gate's top level. He was alone crying without his bear.
DH couldn't believe what I had done. He told me to drive (yes, for a distance so close I would not normally do such a thing) to the school and drop off the bear. I got there about 9:20 AM. I didn't hear any crying nor did I see Little R. I dropped off the bear with the high school volunteer, and left. I went back to pick him up at 11 AM. I noticed that his school bag had been tampered with. Perhaps Little R had soiled himself (he doesn't do this much anymore since he wears only cloth underwear and pants). Kyla told me that Little R had stopped crying starting from about the time I had dropped off the bear. And because Little R expressed interest in going to the washroom with the other children in line, she decided to change his pull-up diaper (thus the tampering of the school bag) even though he didn't need it. Little R also had snack that day. Wow! I was excited about this. Little R cried for only the first 20 minutes (without his bear), and continued the rest of his day taking interest in what the others were doing at nursery school.
Day five. As I changed Little out of his winter apparel, I sensed less anxiety and some shy excitement from the little guy. Once I put his shoes on and gave him his bear, we got up and made our way toward the gate. Kyla saw us and opened the gate. Before we could exchange our how-are-yous, Little R had already wandered into the classroom without any nudging. Then he started to show come anxiety, "Mama!" I had to leave.
I went shopping with Little S frantically at Superstore. I was rushing to get back in time to go pick up Little R. Well, when I put all the stuff into the car, I noticed that her pink pig (TY Piggy) was missing! First Little R's bear, now the lost pig! I called DH to go pick up Little R because I just had to go back into the store to find Little S's best friend. I went back to customer service, the cashier where I had paid, and retraced several aisles, but there was no sign of the limited edition Piggy ;( I think I was sadder than Little S. Although when I explained it to her, she also expressed emotional pain (Little S signs). I left the description of the lost toy at customer service then returned home.
When DH returned with Little R, DH explained that Little R really enjoyed circle time. DH saw one of the teachers go get Little R for circle time by saying "circle" and signing circle on his face. I'm glad that the teachers are so good with the kids. This was Little R had his first no crying day!
In my rush to get home in time to pick up Little R, I totally did not notice how or when Little S's Piggy got lost. I called Superstore yesterday morning to see if anyone had returned it, but the answer was negative. Perhaps there is still hope, but as the days pass, it's looking unlikely. I've looked online, and I've found one for sale on Amazon.com for $39.99 American. It's not the same; we can't just replace a pig she knew her whole life.
Well, DH tried to replace the pig with an elephant that he picked up from Mastermind today after we had returned the mandoline. Little S doesn't seem very fond of the grey and pink plushy. I just hope somehow the original pig returns to her.
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