Playschool begins

Bubbles started on June 11. Bubble's papa and I took him to school and I drove the car since it would be me dropping him off and then going to office. He looked darn cute in his new red helicopter T-shirt and shorts and his "Cars" bag. Upon reaching the school , he bounded out of the car and went running in. We had to drag him back to get his shoes off as is the norm in the school. He looked a little suspicious of going into the playschool but they had set a nice lil slide in the courtyard and they had a fan and clock right there on the wall - yes, those three are his favorite things besides cars and wheels.

The door of the playschool closed and my baby was gone - into the depths of play , learning , socializing and whatever . I kept my eyes peeled every time the door opened slightly to take in a unwilling toddler or eject a fussy newcomer.But no sign of the imp. So finally I begged to be let in to see what he was doing. I couldn't find him anywhere on the ground floor where all the newcomers are bawling their lungs out in a closed room full of colorful, bright , hitherto ignored toys. My heart stopped beating for a second as I thought the worst. So I begged ( again !) to be let upstairs where the more settled toddlers were "moved up" . I peeped in , saw him sitting at a desk surrounded by some similar sized imps. Walked away knowing he was fine. And was called back the next instant - seems he saw me and that did it ! He started bawling - stupid me - now why would I rock the boat ?

Day two - enthusiastic drive to school, no parents allowed in ( the teacher told me yesterday one parent forced her way upstairs and made her baby upset . What an idiot ! How dumb could she be ?Yeah , tell me about it ... and I will wipe that grin off your face) . The ayah took him in to the learning room - closed room with AC. My baby howled , howled till he threw up. Poor baby ! Am I sending you too early to playschool ? But you seem to love going there nonetheless

Day 3 - I showed him the AC and fan in the playschool and he went in willingly. The last I saw he was bawling at the play-yard with the teacher and ayah trying to focus him on the slide , beach toys and other kids. My MIL is at the playschool to keep an eye on him and I drove to work - I do hope he settles. Later , she called me to say he was OK today - napped a little at school .

Here's to you , baby ! you seem to be settling better than some of the older kids .


Some points I want to make for mothers sending their babies to playschool first time :-

1) Get a bag , snack box and water bottle much before they start school and get them familiar with all of it.
2) Take them bag and all to the playschool ( when it's not functioning ) just to get them familiar with the routine minus all the chaos of thousand bawling babies.
3)Let them watch a Barney goes to school or one of those starting school CDs
4) Know your school routine and try to get your child familiar with story time, snack time etc.
5) Never ever barge into your child's class in the attempt to quell your fears . Ask the teacher to do it for you ( sheepish grin !)
6) Remember to let them handle your child - he needs to get familiar with strange surroundings and people. I had this bright idea that they should enter notes in my not-yet-speaking toddler's notepad about daily happenings . I had this brighter idea that they should blow bubbles in the play-yard . All kids like bubbles. But I have kept it to myself . After all , they are the one who've done this for much longer. But of course, it's not stopping me from telling them what to show my son to distract him or how to console him when he's upset.