The title says it all, “A Horrible End to a Near Perfect Day.” Today was Rowan’s first day at school. He did quite well. He ate all his lunch. He took his nap albeit shorter than normal. He played with the other kids. You couldn’t have asked for a better first day.
When I arrive to pick Rowan up, he didn’t notice me. I swear he looked at me a couple of times, but he just kept playing. I walked in with another dad so that might have confused him. The teacher said, “Rowan, look who’s here” and he immediately noticed me and came running. He even gave me a big hug.
The rest of the day was uneventful. We played. He had dinner though he didn’t eat as much as usual. Then it was time for bed. He didn’t want to put on his pjs. He was disagreeable for a brief moment but that was it. After getting his pjs on we started our normal nightly routine to get him ready for bed.
Finally I said, “Rowan, time for bed.” He fought and said in his own way he was not ready. Fine. It happens from time to time. This went on for a little more than an hour. Finally I said “Time to go up to your room.” It was like I had just said the most horrible thing ever.
He started wiggling and fighting to get out of my arms. Then the crying started. The meltdown had begun. I haven’t seen the kid cry like this since Sunday. Yeah, it was that bad.
The crying continued for a while. He really didn’t want to go to bed even though he was sleepy. I can’t help but think this might be what the “terrible 2s” are like. In the end he did finally go to sleep.
Today is Rowan’s first day at school. “School” is what we are calling daycare. He started off the day sleeping in. Yep, first day of school and the kid decides to sleep late. Still, we made it to school on time despite sleeping late and me having to push the stroller with the kid in it through snow covered side walks. “We walked 3 miles, up hill, in knee deep snow, to and from school every day.” Haha, that’s how I felt this morning.
Rowan immediately recognized the daycare, a good thing. The previous visits were paying off. We went to his classroom and he did his little “I’m shy” thing. I put away his coat and other stuff, kissed him goodbye, then walked out. He was interested in what the other kids were doing, another good thing, so I don’t think he really realized I was leaving.
I’m not sure how he is doing right now, but the daycare hasn’t called to say “Come get your boy!” I take this as a good sign. Per the wife’s request, who is out of the country today, I will call the daycare this afternoon to check on the kid. Then I’ll walk back to pick him up at the end of the day. But until then I’m going to enjoy having a quiet house all to myself.
Rowan starts “school” (aka daycare) next week. To prepare I took him to the daycare center for an hour this morning. The idea is to get him familiar with the school before he actually starts next week. But what I learned was the experience was equally as good for me.
During the hour, I got a chance to talk with the teachers. I got to watch the other kids play, and I participated in the couple of activities with Rowan. Before this morning I didn’t really know what to expect. I wasn’t sure what Rowan’s day will be like. But now I have a very good sense of what it will be like for him. I probably got more out of the experience then Rowan did.
