Thursday, August 12, 2010

First Day of School Tears

Yesterday was Lucas' first day of kindergarten. We were excited and nervous. Eric woke me before he left as I knew I would need the extra time to get ready as you never know what Ryder is going to do.

Alex woke up while I was getting ready. I finished getting ready then went in and woke Lucas up. He was sleepy but soon was jumping out of bed as he was excited to go and did not want to be late. I got the kids dressed, they ate their breakfasts. Lucas grabbed his backpack we took a few pictures then were out the door. We got to the school and he headed to the playground. He immediately found his friend Madison and they began to play.
The bell rang and all the kids lined up. He was literally a head taller than everyone in line. He waved goodbye and was into the classroom.

If you read the title you are probably think, uh-oh the tears are about to start now from the mom.

But nope, I was good. In fact I was so busy hurrying off to Ryder's next GI doctor appointment that I didn't really have time to stop and think about it all. Ryder's appointment was 40 minutes away and thanks to some highway closures and school traffic we were a few minutes late.

But his appointment went well, he got a refill for his medication and then we headed back home. About halfway home, Ryder was done he needed to eat right then. So I exited the highway and found a shopping center parking lot to park in and feed him. By the time he was done eating we were pushing it really close time wise. I may have broken the speed limit a bit hurrying home. I would never forgive myself if I was late picking him up on his first day of school. I could just picture all of the other kids leaving and Lucas still sitting there. Talk about mommy guilt!

But we made it! The mass of parents went up to the gate and they released the kids one at a time to the parents. I'm Lucas' mom I said to his teacher.
"Okay, Lucas you can go."

He didn't budge.

He just sat there, his mouth turning down.

"Come on Lucas you can go." I said.

He put his head down on his knees, occasionally looking up at me his eyes red with tears.

The rest of the kids were all soon gone.

There was Lucas sitting there all by himself.

Lucas at this point had his back turned to me and would not come. They invited me in the gate.

"I don't want to go!! I want to stay at school!" he said while sobbing. All of the teachers had a good laugh. I assured him he could come back the next day and told him that everyone was gone so he would be there all by himself.

He continued to sit and cry.

Finally I had to just walk away; he then of course came running after me screaming, "no mommy! Don't go, I want to stay!"

We got out of the gate and continued the whole way to the van like this.. I would take a few steps, he would come running and screaming grabbing onto my leg. My face turning more and more red with every step.

We finally made it to the van and he eventually got in his seat and got buckled in. He was sent to his room immediately upon arriving home.

After he had time to settle down, I was able to get to the bottom of the tears. It turns out when they were in the library he was raising his hand as he wanted to tell his teacher something. She did not see him (all of the kindergarten classes go to the library the last 30 minutes of school as they afternoon classes have started). So he did not want to leave as he had not been able to tell his teacher what he wanted to.

My poor little boy with the sensitive heart of gold... good thing he is bigger than the rest of the kids.

Did your kids cry their first day?

22 comments:

  1. Ha ha! That is a terrific story. Poor kid.

    My kids have not cried at school yet, but I always have one or two criers in my First Grade class that can't stop. And that is just the moms!!!

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  2. Ryan cried a tiny bit yesterday when we first got there. When I left it was just that forlorn look of, "Mommy why are you leaving me!?" Kristin and Emily on their very first days of school, didn't cry. I didn't cry with Kristin. I was very excited for her. I cried with Emily on the second week because she looked so small as she walked away. Yesterday I was just in a state of shock I think. Give me a week or two when it finally sinks it. Geees...I bet you weren't expecting a novel were ya!? haha

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  3. I hope that is not a bad sign... not for him, but about the teacher. You may need to talk to her and tell her about Lucas and how sweet and sensitive he can be. It may help her to be more in tune to him. I hope he had an amazing time though! Good for you for not crying though! So proud! I would have been a mess! I love how Lucas is holding Alex's face in the picture! LOL

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  4. What a fun story to relay back to him some day when he's crying about not wanting to go!!

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  5. I guess crying because you don't want to leave is better than crying because you do. I hope his teacher notices him enough. ;) It's hard to be the oldest child, you're sure used to a lot of attention. I think he'll do great though, and I can't wait to keep hearing about it.

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  6. My friend's little girl started kindergarten yesterday. Her younger sister said she got to stay with mommy and her baby brother slept. But she missed her big sister and wanted to go to school too. So cute.

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  7. P.s I always had one or two criers when I was teaching school. After the first week everyone was adjusted and doing great:-)

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  8. My mom says I used to do that when she dropped me at preschool. She said I would cry when she dropped me off and beg her not to leave and then she would think of me all day and be excited to come and get me and I would cry that I had to go home.

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  9. Oh the little memory maker! You will all giggle over this for years to come- glad he had tears for the right reason ;)

    I left you a blog award today :)

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  10. It's encouraging to see that he wanted to make that connection with his teacher. Hopefully, once they get into a routine, all of the children will get the attention they need.

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  11. I feel your frustration, but that is pretty cute.

    For the first couple of weeks of school my daughter was terrified of breaking any rules or getting in trouble. She wouldn't even ask to go to the bathroom, which turned into a big problem one day when she couldn't hold it. She realized pretty soon after that it is better to ask than wet your pants!

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  12. That is so good that you took the time to get to the bottom of it. Poor guy, he's used to at least 50% of your attention and now he only gets 5% of a teachers. It's a tough transition. And you are much better than me. I cried like a baby.

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  13. Oh, what a precious story and memorable first day...even if a few tears were involved!

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  14. Awe, bless his little heart!
    Jack got a little teary...when he told me I was embarrassing him trying to take a picture! :)

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  15. Oh, that is the cutest story ever! What a sweetie.

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  16. So much Better then last year. I hope all goes well and he adjusts to it.

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  17. At least he likes it, right? I hope he got to tell her the next day! Sounds like it was something very important! :)

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  18. Sounds like he did great and will enjoy school. Not many cry because they want to stay at school, even if the teacher didn't see him raise his hand. Good luck this year my buddy. I love you!

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  19. I am sooo proud of you for not crying. So sweet that he did. Sounds like a great first day minus the tracher not seeing him so he could share.

    Mine only cried because I did but he loved it. We'll see how it goes next Wednesday with the second.

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  20. Aw, poor guy! I am the only one who cries on the first day of school! My kids barely give me a goodbye before they run off to have fun!

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  21. Awww...I didn't quite expect that. But I know that feeling that you have something important to say and then never getting to say it.

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  22. Your poor boy. I always hated feeling like a teacher was ignoring me. And how sweet and fun that he loves it so much. Hopefully he wont feel ignored anymore. Such a sweetie.

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