Delicious Ambiguity: Maida's First Day of School

Waking Maida up for the first day of school was difficult!

Today was Maida's first day of "school". She really didn't want to get up this morning, but eventually she got out of bed and we made it just in time to check in and meet all of Maida's teachers before all of the other kids got there. Ms. Pat and Ms. Vicky are her teachers and she has a few assistants in the classroom too.

When we walked into the classroom, Maida immediately took off and started playing with all of the toys. When the other kids arrived, she wasn't one bit afraid to go up and say "hi" to or play with any of them. All of the children in her class are one-year-olds too. It was so interesting to see the differences in development between all these one-year-olds! Maida was the only one that was potty trained! Haha! Many of the others had better speech and a bigger vocabulary than Maida does. Hopefully by being around them, she'll pick up on a lot more.

When it came time for all the moms and dads to go to their own class, leaving the toddlers in their own class, everyone had their eyes on Maid's and I. Since we were new to this (and all the others have been coming for seven weeks already), I think they all thought we'd have a tough time. However, Maida didn't even want to say goodbye to me. She told me to "go" and took off to play. I was surprised at how clingy a lot of the other children were in her class and how they cried and cried when mom left, even after they have been doing this for seven weeks already. I'm so glad that Maida is Ms. Independent because it looked like it was really hard on the moms and dads, to leave their crying babes behind.

The parent class was really good. We discussed some sleeping problems that some of the kids are having lately and I was relieved to hear that we're not the only one going through a bit of a transition with bedtime. It sounds like it's an age-appropriate thing. I was surprised, though, at how many of the families co-sleep. Most of them did, and most of the moms that I go to prenatal yoga with co-sleep with their kids too. I guess that I see nothing wrong with it, I was just always encouraged not to do it by doctors, friends, and relatives. I can see how it would be a lot easier to wake up with your kids at night, but I also see how it would be hard.

After the parent class was done, I went to pick up Maida from her class and when she saw me coming she took off running in the opposite direction! Most of the other children were very happy to see mom or dad come back. But Maida didn't want me at all. It was very embarrassing (and a bit sad!). When I tried to go to her and hug her or ask her what she did in class, she said, "No, go!" and wouldn't get close to me. She's never been like that before. Usually she's very happy to see me. However, she's never been in a room with that many toys before either! Eventually I got her out of the classroom and into the car.

Next week we don't have class because it's conferences. We will still have a conference with Maida's teachers, even though we were only there one week. They had me fill out a questionnaire on Maida today that tests her social and emotional development. We'll be going over the results of that at conferences to make sure that she's age-appropriate in these categories. If she's not, we'll be able to be referred for further help, but I'm sure she's probably pretty normal!