Ben’s First Week of School

For those of you keeping score, you may know that this was Ben’s first week at school. For those of you who don’t have little kids now, school for Ben is a lot like what used to be called daycare. Mainly it involves many little kids playing near each other, singing songs, and just generally having a good time from 8am until 11:30am. No matter what you call it, though, Ben started going this week.

Day One was a bit rough. Jen and I brought the kids (this is the same school where Ellie is, Gecko and Garden) and stayed for a while with Ben. After half an hour or so, he seemed to be doing pretty well, and there was a bit of a natural break where we decided to make our exit. We said goodbye, and he started crying. A lot. One of the teachers took him and tried to focus his attention elsewhere while we departed, but wasn’t terribly successful. Anyway, we left him crying, but I think we both felt like he’d calm down in a few minutes and have a great time.

An hour later I got a call from the school, saying he was still (yes, not again, still) crying, and could I please come to calm him down. I went and spent the rest of the morning with him, the entire time wondering if I had made a terrible mistake starting him so young. Still having these thoughts, we began Day Two. This time I was on my own, as Jen had to get back to work after such a long time away. Again, after half an hour or so I departed, this time with not “goodbye” but a “I’m going to get coffee, I’ll be back in a while”. Perhaps this made it easier, but when I came back in 30 minutes or so, he was still happy, and after playing for a few minutes he let me leave again. I hung around school, hiding in the manager’s office, but he did great. Wednesday was a non-school day, and he and I went to playgroup and just had a good time together. Day Three (Thursday) started fine, but he had a rough time when I left. This time, however, he calmed down and just had periodic fits of “Dada! Dada! Daddiieeeee!” I was again hiding in the manager’s office (more on this in a different post) and heard most of this, but since he calmed down after a few minutes, I just stayed hidden. Day Four was more of the same, but less crying. I’m now confident that he’ll be fine, but it was a tough week for both him and me. After that long narrative you all need a break and a reward for sticking with me so here are some pictures of his first day.

Jen, Ellie and Ben in front of school

Ben enjoys the sandbox and toys

But he enjoys washing up even more