In our school district, every Wednesday is an early release day for the grade schools which means, in a nutshell, I get my babies home early!!!!!!!! In case you are wondering, I am not a fan of the school year. I miss my kids and they seems to grow so much while they are gone during the day.
Anyway - I'm thankful for the early release day today because I know Kaylen can make it through the 4 hours which will help her feel like she can do this whole kindergarten thing. To be honest, her issues with school have caught me off guard mainly because she has been a fixture at the school since she was under 2 years of age. She knows her way around, she knows most of the staff, she knows the rules, etc. We have eaten lunch in the lunchroom many, many times over the years. Played on the playground at recess more times than I can count. I have zero worries about her and school. Even with the full-day schedule they started this year I knew that, she out of either of my kids, would be able to tackle it.
So how could it start out so wrong?
She is scared of the bus driver because the first day on the way home she was yelling at the kids causing trouble (not my two, thankyouverymuch). It completely traumatized both kids and I had tears galore to deal with. Perhaps the microphone was broken? Starting out on the tough side so the kids know she is in charge? I didn't know. I told them we would give her a week or so to settle in and see how it was going and if she was still yelling, I'd talk with the school (well...the transportation office but whatever...).
Then Kaylen had two days off. The bus driver thing was handled on Friday when parents came to the bus stop to see if all the kids were complaining. They all were. So - all the parents approached the driver once the kids were on the bus and asked what was taking place. Her microphone had been broken but it was fixed and she was sure everything would calm down. She even ended up apologizing to the kids that afternoon, I was told by Kelton. There have been no more complaints but Kaylen is still leery.
Yesterday, my very excited girl got dressed and ready and was eager to go. I talked with Kelton and he would walk her to her room before going to his (he has to walk right past it on the way to his). Kids enter classrooms through doors from the outside of the school. I kissed them both, reminded Kelton and got them on the bus. I then got busy with job hunting.
Around 10:30, I headed over to the school to take care of PTO stuff and then go run some errands. Just as I park, I see the kindergarten class on their way to lunch. As I walk past Kaylen's teacher she said "Kaylen had a rough morning. She cried through all of it. I even had Mrs. Q come in and try to talk with her. She's already in the lunchroom if you want to go see her."
I went over to her table and she looked at me, smiled and then tears sprang to her eyes. I sat next to her and got her eating her lunch and talking with me. As it turns out, she got lost. As they got off the bus Kelton said "You know where to go from here, right?" She said yes and off Kelton ran to be with his friends (and I can't blame him. I take responsibility for this one.). With all the kids and chaos, she got turned around and ended up at a locked door and didn't know what to do. She called for Kelton but he was too far ahead to hear her. She just stood there and started to cry.
The PE teacher found her and walked her to class but apparently didn't tell anyone where he found her so she just walked into the room in tears and then wouldn't talk with anyone. Poor baby. Traumatized on her second day of school.
I left Kaylen for a minute and went over and told her teacher what had happened and she said "I wonder why she wouldn't tell us? We could have helped her to make sure it didn't happen again." I don't know why - all I know is she was a mess.
I went back to her and told her that tomorrow (which is today) I would follow the bus, meet her as she got off and walk her to her room.
As it turned out, I ended up spending the rest of the day in her class helping her teacher (the class is full with 26 kids so they will be hiring aides in the short term until the figure out of they can get another teacher. Yes yes - it would be a great job and I want it more than anything but there are several roadblocks we are trying to work with) and then I took her room at the end of the day. Kelton opted to ride the bus with his friends.
It was touch and go this morning but I got her on the bus and I drove over to the school to meet her. While I waited for the bus I noticed there were no adults meeting the buses as in years past so I talked with the principal to see why. He didn't seem to have answers but said he would look into having the older grades meet the buses to help the kindergartners. He then waited until Kaylen got off the bus, introduced himself to her and said he was sorry about what happened yesterday and if she ever got lost again, look for him in front of the school and he will help her. (And I again pointed out the the flag pole is in the front of the school. All she has to do is look for it and go in the main door.) It was a nice gesture. (Our regular principal is on maternity leaves until next month.) I walked her to her room and with tears in her eyes she hugged me goodbye.I went and took care of PTO stuff and then stopped by the window to her room to see how she was doing. She was engaged and seemed fine so I left the school.
I want her to know she can do this....and at the same time, my Mama Bear instincts are kicked up into full protection mode. I have to let her succeed so she knows that she can do this but man oh man is it hard to walk away from her.
She is, after all, my baby bear.
No comments:
Post a Comment