The Start of School!

When your child turns two years the thought about sending her to school starts to kick in. It gets you thinking how she would react to the thought of leaving home for a few hours, would she make friends, will the other kids like her and would she be able to adjust to the school environment. What I was not prepared for was my feelings of letting her go for a few hours. After my little girl hit two and a half in November 2015, we decided to look around for a preschool before we left for our vacation in December. On visiting one such, they asked us to enrol our daughter in the Day Care so she would not have to go through the waiting list period. There kicked in my separation anxiety and I remember telling my husband "Do you think it's a little early to be enrolling her in preschool?"

Separation anxiety is something that I was definitely not prepared to feel, it made me feel so sad at the thought of leaving my daughter with someone else. Would they take good care of her? Will she miss me? Am I, as parent, rushing into this schooling stage for my child? Maybe I should just homeschool her!

I think a lot of parents go through this phase, just that they do not talk about it or admit it. I was one such parent 'cause I thought I would have more time to do things I needed to do around the house, not clean up much, not erase the marks off the walls/floors. What I did not realise was that I did all this so my child could have more fun. I basically did it all for the minion.

Anyway that being said, after a month long vacation in Sri Lanka with my in-laws, we headed to my parents' place in India and at the end of two weeks, the house became quiet as my nephew left. My minion had no company and I decided to enrol her in the play school here in Yercaud. She could interact with more kids, she would have fun and she could learn a few things.

To be honest, it is more a learning period for me to stay away from my child for a few hours, make use of the two hours and do something constructive 'cause on the first day of school and even now my minion waves out saying "Bye amma, see you soon....!" and walks away with her teacher into the classroom. Now, I think I am more prepared to let go of her and let her have fun, I realise the importance of letting her have a good time with children her age.

So when you get to this phase, before you think about how your child would manage in school, prepare yourself for the little one being away. Children usually manage well once they settle in, I think it is us parents who have a harder time being away!