First Day at Mother’s Day Out for my Difficult Toddler

Well, we did it.  Survived, that is…  sort of.  Let me just say that I did NOT receive a phone call to come and get him early.  That’s success for me!!! 

To be as organized as I usually am, I had the hardest time getting us out the door this morning.  I labeled everything last night and had his bag ready to go.  I went over his morning routine in my head countless times trying to figure out the best way to keep him happy until we arrived at school.  Nevertheless, we were five minutes late on our first day (not too bad).  He woke up in a decent mood, took his fish oil with no hesitation (whole different post), and stayed happy the entire car ride there.  As we approached his classroom, he actually let out a little babble/laugh…which for us is a VERY BIG DEAL. 

His teacher met me at the door and explained that they had decided to split his class in two.  She showed me his new classroom and introduced me to his new teacher.  Ok, I can handle it…I mean, when she met me at the door, I just thought for sure that they were already kicking him out.    There were four or five other little ones already in the classroom and all seemed very happy.  I set Kyler down and got on the floor with him to help him adjust.  Oh no.  For absolutely no reason, he just starts crying.  GREAT.  I was showing him the toys and the other children (he usually loves other kids).  Nope, not working.  Thankfully, one of the teacher’s aides was able to get his attention and stop the crying.  Whew.  Ok, time to sneak out!  Before sneaking out, I explained to his new teacher that Kyler is still taking 2 naps.  If he doesn’t get the morning nap, he will get very fussy!!!  I also had left him a cup of juice, milk, and lunch.  She seemed to understand and encouraged me to sneak away..and I did. 

Ok, deep breath.  I did it.  He’s there and he’ll be fine.  I decided to just go hang out at Target for an hour so that if they did call me when he gets tired and irritable, I’d be right around the corner.  It was approaching 11am and they still hadn’t called.  So, I went home, paid bills, straightened the house, ate lunch and headed back to get him.  It was so nice to have the time BY MYSELF to get stuff accomplished.  I almost didn’t know what to do with myself!

I returned to the school a little early and decided to go ahead and pick him up.  I brought my camera (the battery had been dead earlier) to take some “first day of school” pictures.  High hopes.  This time, I didn’t hear my child screaming….could it be?  Did he survive?  Is he NOT crying???  I peaked through the window on the door and saw that the teacher was changing his diaper.  Obviously, he wasn’t going to be happy during that process but he wasn’t screaming.  A few of the other children were sleeping in cribs, one was sitting quietly in his crib, one playing quietly on the floor, and one rocking herself in a rocking chair.  Seemed fairly peaceful.

When I went in, I realized that Kyler was crying so I rushed to get him.  I asked the teacher how he had been.  Her response….”well, to be honest, he cried almost the entire time.”  UGH!!!!!  She told me that they didn’t give him the morning nap or the juice that I had provided.  (I know that’s why he was so upset.)  They were able to get him to sleep for a few minutes though after lunch.  I felt terrible for Kyler and the teacher.  She must have been exhausted- I would know.  Then the Director stopped in and informed me that, “he had a rough time today.”  Really?  I mean, was my child the only one in the entire school to be so irritable and fussy?  Probably.

Poor little guy was so happy to be back at home with me.  I have such mixed emotions.  The school is good and I feel comfortable with them.  The problem is the nap situation.  I do not want to lose that morning nap and he needs it.  They said that they would try to put him down for the morning nap next time (he only goes one day a week).  I just selfishly really need that time to myself.  Having one day a week for 6 hours is like my new heaven!  I think he’s just going to have to stick it out again and I’ll pray he does better next time.

Meet the Teacher Day with my Difficult Toddler

To manage my sanity, I decided to enroll Kyler in a Mother’s Day Out program one day a week.  We recently moved to Texas from Florida so I don’t have any family or friends to help out if I need to go to the doctor or run errands.  Baby Daddy and I thought that the Mother’s Day Out program would be a good way for Kyler to interact with other children and for me to get a little relief.

Today was Meet the Teacher Day at Kyler’s new school.  We were all prepared with our “impress the teacher” outfits.   I was on time, my child looked adorable, and we were ready to meet the teachers…  I’m always very anxious during outings with Kyler because he is so temperamental.  I don’t know why but he is always the one to not want to be in a stroller, or not want to be held, or not want to be set down.  It’s so embarrassing but I am persistant to try over and over to get him out and about hoping that one day he’ll behave in public. 

When we found his classroom, there were already several other children and parents standing around talking to the teachers.  My anxiety level was increasing as Kyler started to fuss…I cautiously took him out of his stroller and encouraged him to play on the floor with the other children and toys.  Whew, he did it.  Ok, now it’s time to meet his teachers.  I told myself that I would NOT tell his teachers about his presumed speech delay because I worried about them labeling him.  My big mouth, however, spouted it out immediately as I introduced myself to one of the nice ladies.  Much to my surprise, she comforted me by explaining that her daughter had a speech delay as a child and that she was very aware of how to work with children in need.  I was relieved…until I read that she is the teacher on the two days that Kyler is NOT in school.  GREAT, on to meeting the other teachers….

Meanwhile, Kyler was playing fairly well.  He was noisier than the other children with his grunts and “Aaahh” sounds but having fun.  So, the teachers informed us that there was a parent meeting in the auditorium and that we could leave our children in the classrooms with them if we felt comfortable.  Kyler appeared to be having a good time so I snuck out.  Twenty mintues later, after the meeting ended, I was headed down the hall to pick up my child.  I was feeling great…accomplished even.  We had successfully handled a day out in public and having him at Mother’s Day Out was going to be a good thing…….

Oh no.  I hear screaming.  Recognizable screaming.  Children’s screams sound similar – right?  Some poor child is not happy.  The closer I was to Kyler’s room the more sure I was that the scream I heard belonged to my son.  Indeed it did.  He was fine when I left him; I know he was.  Surely, she’s going to tell me that he was fine the entire time until just now.  NOPE.  I rescued the poor teacher and took Kyler into my arms.  He was crying so hard that he could barely breathe.    I apologized profusely to the teacher.  She said that he was fine for a few minutes after I left and then just lost it and they were never able to console him.  She said, “Oh, don’t worry about it.  It will take them a few times to adjust.  If we can’t handle him and he continues to cry, we’ll call you.”

Why do I have this feeling that the $200 non-refundable registration fee is money flushed down the toilet???

As soon as I got him out of his classroom, I realized that I had forgotten to give him his juice.  If you know anything about me, it is that I am scheduled.  Predictable.  This child of mine was as scheduled as can be and needs his juice or other meal right on time.  How could I’ve forgotten to leave them with his juice??  I hurriedly found it in his bag and gave it to him.  And he was calm……….

Well, one day down but many more to come.  I’ll write about his first real day of school which is not until next Wednesday.