Poor Brayden. After that first hard day of school, things got better. Every day, he says he really likes his teacher when I ask him. She called me and we got to talk about some concerns I was having about the curriculum being to repetitive since he had already completed Kindersteps. She was very kind, aware of his personality, and put me at ease.
Then yesterday when I picked him up, he told me he had lost his dollar, and got a "red." So I immediately pulled out his folder and found a half page note about his bad behavior that day. We had a long talk with him and took away some privileges. But I was confused and frustrated. Last year his teacher had nothing but good things to report, and he always earned a "green" on his behavior chart. He was even the lucky recipient of being the "Blue WOW Kid of the Day" on several occasions. But of course I believe her. I too, have noticed a change in his behavior. I know he has complained every day that school is too long. And it is! I think he is having a hard time adjusting to all day. This morning I asked him to write an apology to his teacher. We got in the car and started heading to school, and that's when he asked me in a tiny sad voice, "Mama will you come to lunch with me today?" I said I would and then asked him what was wrong. I turned around to see big tears in his eyes, as he said, "School is too long. I think about you all day, and I miss you the whole time."
Heartbreaking.
I told him I would come back to sit with him at lunch today, and then I walked him up to the school. All the kids were standing around waiting for teachers. Brayden looked sullen and weepy eyed. Then he sat down on the sidewalk and put his head in his hands. It broke my heart into pieces. I had to say good bye, this time with tears in both of our eyes.
It does get better. I got to the cafeteria for lunch, and he turned around and spotted me, jumped to his feet, gave me a big excited wave and had a happy reassuring smile on his face.
The first thing he said was, "Mama, we get to have a puppet show after lunch! I like the lion the best. He has a big smile and adorable eyes."
That brought the biggest smile to my face. That's exactly what I see when I look at you, Bubba.
18 comments:
Oh Chelsea you are making me cry! That is so sad! I hope things get better, I think it is a big adjustment for our kids and us! I cried myself to sleep last night knowing Abby had to start school today, I am being the biggest baby!!
Hi Chelsea! I finally got my internet up and working yesterday and debated all day whether or not I should check in with the "blogging world!" (I knew that I had a LOT of catching up to do!) Of course I did . . . and I am filled with tears now. I am glad that I read your post this morning. Bryton and Nayvi started today and Nayvi had a hard time. I just can not believe how fast time goes by! Watching them grow up, leaving them in someone else's hands for 8 hours a day, knowing that they'll learn "things" but praying over and over that they can withstand all of the pressures! I really feel for you and I wish that I could give you a hug. The first day of ALL DAY Kindergarden, well the first week or MORE is rough. (There are even moments here and there that are hard . . .) Nevertheless, I think that with time, the routine of it all gets easier.
Oh, and I haven't updated anything yet on my blog but I hope to do something this week.
i love how you ended this post. you are such a sweet, tender momma. i am sorry its bee such a hard adjustment, that breaks my heart. he is so lucky to have such a supportive, caring momma!
Hold on...let me dry my eyes really quick. Okay I'm back, poor Brayden! That's so awesome of you to go back and eat lunch with him! I'm sorry it's so long for him this year! I never thought I'd be one of those mom's who cried when her kid started school...but I truly was holding back the tears. Only because I was so freaking happy for him and he was so excited (and so I could finally take a nap)! Good luck to Brayden, I'm sure it will get easier and easier, hopefully! See you tonight at SYTYCD?
AWWW. Tears to my eyes too. I hope it gets better for him.
That just breaks my heart, and he is such a sweet tender-hearted boy. It is so hard to be a mom and watch your children struggle. Yeah...I wasn't that crazy about Trevor's kindergarden teacher but I never thought he had a behavior problem, then I was so surprised that Trevor's first grade teacher said, "I was surprised that Trevor's kindergarden teacher told me he was one of her hardest children since he is so good in my class." The nerve of that teacher to talk about my son...good thing we had such a great first grade teacher to make up for it. It is so hard because I really know his teacher couldn't have been wrong 100 percent of the time but why was he so good in preschool and first grade...
AWWE! that is a priceless story... you are such a good mom chel. no wonder he thinks about you and misses you all day long! you are so lucky to be able to go to lunch and eat with him, i bet that makes it easier on him, but what a long day for such a young age... i bet i will be crying harder than libby when she goes to full day school!
i like the way you ended the story, so sweet.
Don't worry, soon he will love it more than he loves home :) haha i dont know if that is comforting or not.
Oh man, Chels, even though you already told me about it, just hearing it again makes me sad for you all over again! I've definately been there before and it will get better, but until then it sucks! Hang in there and let me know the next time you go to lunch so that I can watch Kosty for you.
awww that was a really cute post chels... i dont know if my moms side of me was coming out or what but that made my eyes tear up, at work at that!!
Very cute post, i feel so bad for brayden i dont even memeber my first day of kindergarden, i probably cryed too!!
Cute cute post!!
Hi Chel, it broke my heart too to hear about how sad Brayden is at school. As a mom, you want to take that pain away. Maybe he could take something with him to school that reminds him of you so that you could be "with him." That is a very heartwrenching story. So sorry Belle.
Mom
I am crying with you. There is nothing more heart wrenching then seeing your child have to make their way in this cruel, bad world. I hope it gets better. I keep praying!
just read your comment, glad i am not the only one up at this hour... ugh! this dang computer sucks me in, and i am up till midnight!! enough! i am closing up shop... NOW!
call ya later.
and i missed marys stems?
I started crying just thinking of that whole scenario....heart breaking is the perfect word! That is so sad, I hope it gets better for him :( I can't even imagine having to send you child to school all day (sniff sniff).
That brought tears to my eyes. I've been kinda wishing kindergarten were all day here. I guess maybe it's a good thing it's not?!?
I do feel for you. When we moved here from Utah Maggie was in the 1st grade and I did not like her teacher at all. My sweet, perfect little Maggie would cry and get tummy aches and beg to stay home. I would push her out the car door crying that she didn't want to go and that school was too long and she missed me...sound familiar? I tried talking to the teacher and that did no good. SHe yelled at Maggie for crying and told her that she was disrupting the class, which made Mag think she hated her. I finally talked/bawled my eyes out to the school counselor and told her my story. She was shocked at the way Mag's teacher was handling the tears and told me she would try and help. She was amazing and Maggie LOVED this woman. The tears did get better and the school counselor would reward her with toys, etc. for the times she didn't cry. Anyway, if it doesn't get better you could always try the school counselor she seems nice.
Girl, you are going to make me cry- It is so sweet how much he misses you.
(This makes me so sad to send kale off to school!)
Thank goodness Brayden has a good mommy like you to come be with him:) I'm glad that the day went better for him and you:)
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