This week was. . .amazing. I can't believe we had so many weeks and months of angst and teeth-knashing about whether to switch SB's school. She has done beautifully in her new school this week, and is so very happy. I know it's still early days, but it's like someone flipped a light switch. I have my child back, and she is burning bright.
They had to pull her off me the morning of the first full day and I won't lie: I shed a few tears. But I knew she was good--behind her words of protest, there was a little smile. She may have been a little apprehensive, but she was in really, REALLY good hands. We got a great report at the end of the first day from the teacher, and she looked VERY happy and engaged, from all of the pictures that I saw. And she was so exhausted from all of the running around and playing hard that she slept, really slept, at a real bedtime. It was just. . .amazing.
But I knew that it was a good match when I got home from work that first night, and I asked her how it went. She said "Mommy, I had a good day. I made a new friend." Not "I was bad today." Not "I didn't get a snack because I didn't sleep." Not "I was on yellow." No outbursts. No negative behavior. Just "I had a good day." And it's been that way every day. New friends. New adventures. New projects. Art that she is thrilled to share. Stories about the class hamster and kids who push her on the tire swing.
She skipped away from me the subsequent mornings and slipped in with the group, busying herself with activities and forgetting about me before I'd even left the room. She doesn't say "I don't want to go to school" every morning and every night. She isn't upset when I tell her it is a school day. Again, I know it's early days, but she hated her old school from day one. This is just really, really different.
I can finally exhale. This is her childhood, as it was meant to be.
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