KAREN NAZOR HILL: Summer vacation is over for most area students, and now they’re heading back to school. While some children look forward to it, others don’t. And it can be especially hard for the youngsters who are going to preschool, kindergarten or first grade – and their parents. In fact, as I was leaving work yesterday, a colleague was carrying out a lovely floral arrangement sent to her by her husband. She told me the flowers were to cheer her up because she had some anxiety about her daughter starting kindergarten later in the week. I remember the feeling. One of my four children was particularly fretful about going to kindergarten. On his first day, he grabbed hold of the railing on the porch when we were leaving the house. Then he grabbed a tree. Once I got him to school, he held me so tightly that his teacher had to peel him off me. He cried. I cried. It was awful. Sure it got better, but we experienced a lot of stress.
MARK KENNEDY: Both of my boys, ages 3 and 8, are changing schools this fall, and the stress is radiating out in all directions. I drop off our younger son each morning at day care, and he’s being extremely clingy. Just this morning, for the first time, he managed the separation without tears, which was a major victory.
My older son, meanwhile, is stressed, too, but it plays out in different ways. Instead of talking about school, he might be irritable about what’s for breakfast or balk at going to sports practice. But it all traces back to being unsettled about a new school environment.
I find myself trying to manage these situations by being alternately kind and firm. Sometimes the children need a hug, and other times they need a little push to put one foot in front of another. At the end of the day, everyone has to get where they’re going. Work and school aren’t optional.
KAREN: It’s most definitely a life lesson, Mark. Sometimes we all need a little push to get out the door in the morning. My 3-year-old granddaughter started day care two weeks ago. She was in a Mother’s Day Out program in a local church for a couple days a month last spring, but that’s very different and not as rigid as day care five days a week. At first, she was excited about her new school. But on day two, her mood changed. She cried and was extremely upset when her mother dropped her off. The hardest time for her, her teacher said, is during the two-hour nap period. My granddaughter typically does not take naps, and I know it’s hard for a 3-year-old to be still for two hours. But even at 3, she’s got to learn to conform. We all have to. I explained to her how excited I would be if my workplace had mandatory two-hour naps every day.