Things Happen for a Reason

Hopie's train got into an accident. She is fine, but they were stalled for two hours. I ended up picking Avery up from his Playgroup. It turned out this was a good thing.

Actually, he did fine all day according to his teacher, but then at some point close to 12pm, he started to cry A LOT. He was sobbing. When I arrived, all the littlest kids were putting on their shoes, and Avery was in the center of this little circle, just wailing. One of the teachers was sitting with him, helping him with his shoes. He was doing that little hyperventilating thing that happens when you cry too much, and yelling "Mommy! Mommy!" When I picked him up, he asked, "Where's Daddy? Want to see daddy."

We left the little courtyard and sat on some steps outside the school with another little girl in his class, Olivia. They ate grapes, and Avery calmed down.

I know school is good for him, he can meet friends and learn to socialize. They have magic shows and visits from the children's zoo. He's learning how to interact in a school setting, without actually being in school. And I know he's ready, or seems so. However, I realized it's all good if he actually likes it. It was really hard to see him so upset. I am not sure if it was about being there, or if he was tired, or if it was just all new and overwhelming in the midst of a growth spurt and all sorts of other things.

The teachers were all really nice when I picked him up, and said he was fine all day. They had CIRCLE and he was "very thoughtful" and they played in the big kids room with bikes and on the jungle gym. And Olivia's mom said that when she just started, when she was 18 months (she's 2 months older than Avery), it took her a good two weeks of adjustment. She is definitely adjusted, wearing pink sparkley shoes and pink sunglasses, "Just for being outside."

At the end, when we were walking home, Avery did tell me, "No like school." We have to talk about that, just remind him of all the things he loved last week and most of today. I hope things change for Thursday. I am going to have a hard time dropping him off if he's upset at all!