School Days
My two little stinkers are doing so well at school this year. No tears. No drama. Much better start than last year. My sweet girl got off to a rocky start for the first two weeks. She was agitated and crying and throwing tantrums over her hair, and outfit, down to the shoes. She would cry and claim she hated going to school. Every single morning. Of course it had nothing to do with any of those things. She has a great time when she's there and hasn't cried at all over missing me. It was just a way for her to lay her fears down over things that were controllable in a safe environment. A new classroom with new kids and new teachers is extra hard for her. I just hugged her through it.
Matthew and I also let her know that school is her job and will be for the better part of her life and she needed to get used to it. We told her she could have rewards for her hard work. She quickly earned herself a new Ariel and her mermaid sisters. Followed immediately by the rest of the gang from the movie.
And let me interject by saying I let my kids choose their own school clothes. I have no interest in fights first thing in the morning. It takes every thing in me not to fully control them at this age but I'm trying hard not to do that. Wells actually insists on wearing a dress (usually smocked, ha) every day which makes it a lot less of a battle anyway. She has also politely and not so politely let us all know how much she hates bows. She told my mom on Sunday morning that she wasn't going to wear an effing bow to Church. Point taken.
And my sweet and serious little Tagg. He's rocking school. They have trains. And snack. He told me after the first day that two kids cried because they missed their Mom's. But not him. He knew I was in the Mom's room, drinking coffee. I may have let them believe I had my own school to attend for the first week or so. Yesterday his teacher said he let his sillies out. That means he's finally comfortable. Didn't take long!
Speaking of snack, in his class they do a shared group snack. Eliminates all kinds of confusion for a table or two of two year olds. I get that. I also get that he has a serious food allergy and can't participate. I discussed this problem with his teacher before school started and told her I'd be more than happy to run to the store after drop off to match whatever had been brought in that day for snack. That way Tagg nor the other children would know his snack wasn't the same. I even mentioned the problem of cross contamination with fruit coming from an unsafe kitchen. Instead, his teacher asked me to provide a list of safe foods for him and she would then use that as the class snack list. She asked for all fruit to be brought in whole so she could personally wash it and ensure it was safe for Tagg. I am so moved by this generosity on her part. To make both him and me feel as normal and safe as possible in a group food environment. Oreos and Cinnamon Teddy Grahams are both safe for him and she even asked that Birthday Treats be one of those two. I am so grateful to her. I know this will not be the case as he gets older but it's nice to transition into school with such a kind community.
More on this later. I know so many of you have asked for a food allergy post and I'm trying to put one or two together. It's harder than you think.