It took 5 weeks for my daughter to stop being miserable at school.

As soon as we walked in the door of the school, she started to cry. We walked into her classroom and she started to scream and hang on to me for dear life. I put her bag away and took her to the tables to check out the toys available for play that morning. One of them was a Disney babies pop-up toy. I sat on the floor. She glued herself to my lap and stopped crying while she played with the toy. I gave her a hug, told her I had to leave, and passed her off to a teacher. She started screaming again, but I have to leave anyway.

As I head to the Y for a wellness meeting, I’m feeling positive that my outgoing and friendly daughter WILL adjust to school. It’s been a big one for her, and I don’t discount that, but when she’s always been so happy to see other kids, her reactions have left me confused.

So I head to the Y intending to learn some machines and still have time to do some shopping. I was wrong.
The fitness expert I was paired with was really nice, and not at all mean like the personal trainers I’ve met or worked with in the past. She really wanted to make sure that I knew how to use the machines and equipment that would help me best. However, there are a LOT of machines I can use (and at least as many that I shouldn’t) and so I spent two hours getting the run down.

I haven’t been that tired since my daughter was newborn (or that sore, either). I raced home from the Y for a shower and a turkey sandwich (I’d only had a banana for breakfast, and the peanut butter sandwich I had in the car was gone in two seconds) and had to stop at Starbucks on the way to pick up the babe just to stay awake. I couldn’t wait for nap time.

Then I got to the school to pick my daughter up. As soon I started down the hallway she saw me (she likes standing at the door and watching everyone come and go) and, for the first time, was NOT crying hysterically for me. She was ecstatic to see me, and reaching and bouncing and yelling, but she wasn’t hysterical. I picked her up, gave her a huge hug and she looked at me and gave me a tiny smile before laying her head on my shoulder. She’s NEVER smiled until I put her in her car seat to go home. Her teacher tells me that even though she still wasn’t joining in their games, that she had come over to check out each new thing that they were doing, and had ASKED to paint! Her teacher pulls her painting out of her bag to show me, and even though it was loud and I couldn’t hear very well, I swear my daughter said, “I paint” and gave me a big smile before burrowing into my shoulder again.

She still isn’t eating snack or lunch, but this? THIS IS PROGRESS. 😛