We don’t need no education…

That could be Charlotte’s mantra.  I could just say that she wasn’t a fan of school this first week, but that would be a major understatement.

Let’s take a step back…this past weekend, I told her she would be starting school soon.  She told me she didn’t need to go to school, because she “just wants to be a mommy” and “mommies don’t go to school”…oh, and my personal favorite, she “doesn’t want to learn”.  Of course I explained that everyone goes to school, I went to law school when I was a mommy, you have to go to school BEFORE you can be a mommy, etc.…it didn’t matter, though-- it all fell on deaf ears.

So, fast forward to Tuesday, her first day.  Mamie was here, and I got her psyched for school by getting her Dora backpack.  She seemed to get excited about that, and we were able to get her out the door for the walk to school.  And of course I took the obligatory front-door photos!

One with mommy too!

And then we were off…me, Charlotte, and Mamie with Henry in the stroller. Here is a video of the beginning of our journey :)

Charlotte’s walk to school

 

You would think, based on the fact that she was running and all cheerful, that she was excited for school and wouldn’t give us a hard time. Think again!

She was still in good spirits when we got to the front of the school, and happily (kind of) posed for pictures with us.

And she was very happy when Hari arrived…she ran over to his car to see him and Nicholas.  So Kara and I took the opportunity to get some pictures of the two of them together in front of the “United” sign.

Here is Charlotte playing coy

Hari reaching out for her hand

Got it :)

And from there, it all went downhill.  We went in, and by the time we got to the classroom, she was clinging to my leg and hysterically crying.  She was so upset she was literally hyperventilating.  And strangely enough, she was the only one…the other kids were looking at her like she had 6 heads!  I thought this was a pretty typical thing for nursery school students, but I guess not, haha. 

Hari was so cute.  He kept on bending down, looking in her eyes, telling her it was okay and trying to take her hand and lead her in to the class room.  She wasn’t falling for it.

So anyway, the teachers tried to take her and have me go into the other room and wait…they told me kids always calm down in a few minutes.  But after 10-15 minutes, she still hadn’t calmed down, so they came to get me and set up a small chair so I could sit in the doorway of the classroom.  Charlotte stayed on my lap for 15 minutes or so, and then when they went to the big play room, she was adventurous enough to venture out and play…but not without checking on me every 4 seconds to make sure I didn’t move an inch! And so that is how we spent the first day.  I didn’t have high hopes for today, but I didn’t think it would be worse than the first day…ugh.

Once again, we walked to school without a problem, but when we walked down into the classroom, she lost it.  She was more hysterical than the first day, so once again, the director went and got me a chair to sit outside the class.  But this time, she wouldn’t even let me sit there…she was literally climbing up my body…as I was holding Henry, and he was trying to throw himself OUT of my arms to go play with all of the toys, haha.  At one point, Kara just took Henry from me because Charlotte was absolutely catatonic.  So, once again, the director came up and told me I had to just pass her over and leave.  She literally pried Charlotte out of my arms, hysterical, and I had to walk away.  Ugh…not an easy thing to do.

So I walked home, and the director kept on calling and giving me updates…the first time she told me she wasn’t hysterical anymore, and she was only whimpering.  The second time she told me she had been fine, she was playing in the big room, and asked to go into the “mommy bathroom”.  When they said she couldn’t use the adult bathroom and she could only use the little girl bathroom, she lost it again…she started saying “but I AM a mommy, I can use that bathroom, I have a baby!”.  I had hoped her delusion about being a mommy and having a baby and being pregnant wouldn’t come out during the first week of school, haha…so much for that :)

BUT, all that being said, when we went to pick her up, she was so excited to see us…she ran right up to me and Mamie and acted as if nothing had happened!  Happy as a clam. 

Although she has already told me she doesn’t want to go to school tomorrow, so wish me luck!!!

Xoxoxo