Seton Baby Talk

It’s been a long week. The little guy started Montessori school on Tuesday, and to my surprise, he went with the director of the school without a peep. I was so proud of my big boy. I couldn’t believe I was worried about this. The transition was so easy it was almost laughable.

Then day two came.

I went to drop him off, and he was a little bit clingy. Not too terribly out of the ordinary, but I should have seen it coming. When the teacher came to bring him to the classroom he latched onto me so tightly we had to pry him off of me. The entire time we were prying him off he was screaming as if he was losing a limb. He screamed the entire way down the hallway, writhing, arching his back and trying to get away from the teacher. Finally at the end of the hallway he screamed, “MAMAMAMAMAMAMA,” and I lost it. I left the school that morning and drove the entire way to work in tears.

I spent the entire day at work worrying about him. I called three times through the course of the day, and the report was always the same. He is still crying off and on, but this is completely normal. Don’t worry, Mom. It will all be okay.” I couldn’t really handle it so left work a tiny bit early to pick him up. When the teacher brought him up he had a tear stained face, and was doing that horrible little gasp thing that kids do after a long cry and being all worked up. My heart broke. The worst part? He wasn’t even excited to see me. He gave me a look that could only mean, “Why, mom? Why?”

How do you explain to your little one that you have completely turned his world upside down because you want him to have the best? How do you tell your little one that the reason you are leaving him with strangers is that you want him to have an opportunity to learn? How do you tell your baby that this is so he can make new friends and learn about colors and letters and can learn independence? How do you explain that this will end up helping to build his confidence? And does that even really mean anything when your baby is screaming off and on for 8 hours?

I have to just keep reminding myself that all of this is completely typical behavior for a little guy. He’s feeling insecure because he is not used to the routine just yet, but that will change. He’ll get used to his school and his classmates and his teacher and hopefully by the end of it, he’ll be just like the little girl I watched this morning.

The little girl I am referring to is in Owen’s class, and the teachers have told me that Owen has taken a shining to her. Most likely he sees that she is the closest to him in age (and size) so he feels most comfortable around her. On the second day I was told that while on the playground, Owen reached his arms out in her direction inviting a hug. She stopped, looked at him, and promptly said, “No!” and walked away. I laughed and told Owen to get used to it.

This little one is a shining example of what I hope for Owen though. I watched her drop off this morning and was so impressed. She walked in holding her daddy’s hand and her lunchbox, and started off down the hall with no escort. Her daddy had to remind her to come back and give him a hug and wait for the teacher to come and get her. Talk about independent! And she is just a few months older than my sweet little guy!

Although it’s been a very rough week, with bad behavior in the evenings and screaming in the mornings, it’s getting a tiny bit better with each passing day. This morning he only screamed halfway down the hallway. I’ll take that as a small victory and hope that next week is a better one.

Having a routine is so important to children.  To read more about creating routines for your family, read this article from our Resource Center.