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Day two
By ella | October 3, 2007
Tears on the first day are fear of the unknown. Tears on the second day are because you know how awful it is going to be.
‘I’m frightened,’ he whispers to me as I adjust his tie.
‘Oh baby, I’m sorry you’re frightened but I’m sure your teacher will look after you. And you made a friend so why don’t you play with him in the playground today?’
‘I want to go home,’ he says as the tears start to fall.
‘Let’s go and get a new reading book. Your teacher will be so impressed you’ve finished yours already,’ I say by way of distraction.
He starts to sob. ‘I want to go home Mummy. Please don’t leave me here. I want to go home.’
I give him a cuddle. ‘I know you’re upset but you’ll do some fun things today,’ I lie remembering the intense boredom I felt most of the way through school. I want to tell him he doesn’t need to be at school forever, just until the next baby is old enough not to require endless attention, but a couple of years is forever when you’re five. And, if I’m honest, I’m hoping by then he (and his brother) will love school and his friends with a vengeance.
We walk to the classroom, his crying becoming increasingly loud and desperate-sounding. Mothers look at me sympathetically as I try to calm Harry while Ben does an escaping act. A teaching assistant comes out and tries to console him but he is sobbing uncontrollably. I try to get through the door but as I push him through ahead of me other children block the doorway so I quickly wave goodbye and the teacher shuts the door to stop him as he tries to leave. I practically run out of the school so he won’t see me if the door opens and then stop in the playground and take a deep breath, feeling like the world’s worst mother.
Sometimes parenting feels like the worst job in the world.
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Read More:
- How to stop bullying
- The playground
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Categories: Homeschooling and School
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