J's first week of school

J's first week at school FINALLY ended! It had been a LONG and tortuous week for all of us at home.

We started his first week already not on a very good note....On his first day, we arrived at 8.30a.m., we were greeted by the school's admin staff...who told us to go to one of the classroom for him to have breakfast. It was CHAOTIC in the classroom...kids running around, talking...some eating their breakfast on their own at the tables. And to make things worse, we did not even know who his form teacher was going to be. I was allowed to accompany him for the first 3 days and he seemed pretty happy.

The first day went by quite fast coz it was just half day and we took him home slightly after lunch.

The second day was ok...except that J almost fell into the deep pool (1.8m deep) while having waterplay time because his teachers didn't notice him running out of the "allowed" play area and off to the deep pool. I could not have imagined what would have happened should I have not been there. To us...that had been an issue and we started to question if the teachers were even experienced looking after kids that young.

The third day was when it all went out of control...J was resisting being in the toilet for diaper change and he ran out of the toilet on his own. AGAIN...no teacher went after him but ME! At that point....I think I just totally lost it! I was really upset with the way the teachers are managing the kids...especially with only 4 kids at that moment. To me...that was the issue. If you cannot manage 4 kids now....I cannot imagine what the situation is going to be like with 4 more kids joining the class in a few weeks' time.

I had to speak with the Principal. Later, I found out that J's form teacher is not experienced with kids in pre-nursery as she had been with the nursery level for the last few years. As a school....shouldn't they be putting someone more experienced at this level since they are the youngest group of children (apart from the infants) who probably need more delicate care and teachers who know how to manage them especially when they are new to the school environment!

Then, everything just went downhill from there. I started to blame myself for putting J in the CC. I was also telling my hubby maybe he's just not ready for school or the school's program is just not as engaging to J as being at home. ALOT ALOT of "MAYBES" went through my mind for the entire week!

We thought that we had prepared him quite well for what to expect...we read him books about school and the fun things he will get to do in school, we brought him for a walk in the school premise and also letting him put on his uniform for a walk at the void deck. We also walked from our home to his school on some weekends and letting him know that was where he was going to attend school at and the route we will be taking.

 With all the preparation we had done with J, we didn't expect that he would react so adversely to being in school. It was as if his personality has changed...from a smiley toddler to a crying toddler! He was so reluctant to go into the school each morning and he was crying almost the entire morning EVERYDAY.

He didn't want to join in any activities, even his favourite play was not enough to make him feel comfortable and want to be there. It really pains me as a mummy to see him cry everyday at school...but I know we don't have a choice because there is simply nobody else at home who can watch over him while hubby and I are at work.

J basically spent the entire week being carried by his teachers all the time. Each day I dropped him off at school, I hang around to peek at him but it really pains me so much seeing him cry. On many occasions, I just wanted to take him home with me but I didn't.

I looked forward to taking him home with me everyday and it's so heart wrenching to see his eyes so swollen from the crying the whole morning and he just didn't seem happy at all.

All we hope for him is be happy to be at school! When Friday came, we were all so relieved that the week was finally over and he didn't have to go to school over the weekends. We just wanted to spend all our time with him, shower him with lots of love and just let him be happy!

We only hope J's crying is only temporary and it would be a better week, NEXT week.