First week in school

Do you all remember how it all went down during your very first day of school? I for one remembered mine very clearly for some strange reason. It was not as if it was very traumatic in the first place.

Like most of you (I imagine we are all about the same age right?) I did not attend any playschool or nursery so my first year was straight to kindergarten and I attended the good old neighbourhood PAP ones.

From what I can recalled my Mum was asking me if I would cry in school and I assured her that I would not but I was affected by the other crying kids (really it’s true) and ended up crying too. What happened next was very interesting. I remembered that there was this dark kitchen in the PAP facility and the teachers were taking the crying kids, one at a time, into the kitchen area only to return without them. Suddenly alarm bells started going off in my mind. I probably thought that the teachers brought the noisy kids in to be slaughtered so I stopped crying there and then. As I got older I learned that the teachers brought the cry babies to their parents through the backdoor.

That was about my experience but guess you weren’t here for that right? What you really want to know is how Isaac fared during his first week in school. Not how his old man went through all those years ago.

You will be glad to know that Isaac did extremely well on his first day. You can tell he was excited and he even posed for some photo taking. He was also excited to be carrying his own bag and tumbler. When we arrived he was quietly observing everything that was happening around him and wasn’t cranky at all. He walked quietly besides my dad and was led into his classroom unknowingly. Since we opted not to remain in class we left the classroom as soon as he was in. The poor fellow didn’t even know what hit him. He probably turned around and no one was there anymore.

He was alright in the beginning sitting down at the same table while a mum was reading to her child. He then got bored and wandered around on his own. However he soon started to miss us and wanted to go to the main door and that was when the teacher picked him up but he continued to point at the door. She then carried him to all the different corners of the classroom to try and distract him but we could see that he was pouting and his eyes were red and teary but full credit to him for he did not cry (yes, to this father, tearing and crying are two different things). Not wanting to risk being spotted by him, kids know to look at the glass panel on the doors; we left to do our own things only to come back about 15 minutes before his classes finishes to pick him.

When we came back we were glad to see that he was all settled down and looked to be having fun although he wasn’t smiling. He was one of the first few to be released and to see the bright and cheeky smile certainly helped us, the parents and grandparents overcome our anxiety. It is also good to learn that my boy does not bare grudges and yes you read right, Isaac was indeed escorted by 4 adults on his first day of school.

The feedback from his teacher was he only cried when she asked him to eat his meal. We forgot to mention to her in the beginning that he is not too big on eating so let him be if he chooses not to eat. Hence without knowing the teacher tried to get him to eat time and again which Isaac must have felt like being forced to eat hence he cried. He apparently returned to his usual self once meal time was over.

On his second day we could sense that something was wrong because he refused to put on the uniform and when we put on his white shoes he cried. I was worried that he would remembered his 1st day in school and not be as cooperative for the coming days and my worry came through but only to a certain extend.

Thankfully he was only a little cranky when putting on his uniform and he was alright during the journey to school. He only acted up again when I carried him into the hall leading to his class. By the time we entered his classroom he was crying already. I did what I was supposed to do and that was to simply hand him to the teacher and left the classroom with him crying.

During the next 10 minutes or so we were playing hide and seek by the glass panel trying to catch a glimpse to see if he had stopped or was he still miserable. I am proud to say that he stopped crying within 5 minutes of me leaving him. Since his class was only for 1.15 hours during this 1st month we waited in school and we made regular visits to take a peek at how he was doing.

The same continued for the 3rd day and we saw improvement on Thursday and Friday for my dad reported that although he turned cranky at home when they changed him, he did not cry in school at all.

That ended our very nervous first week of Isaac attending school. I am truly grateful that he did not cry and wailed like some of the other kids. Looking at the parents’ body language and apologetic look, I almost wanted to go over and tell them that it was okay and as fellow parents, we understand.

Fussing over and getting him ready for his 1st day in school.

Waiting in line to be brought to his class. Looked kind of lost ya?

His cheeky self before school!