Montessori Update

I'm not writing much tonight; I'm tired... at 8:30. And I still have to clean up our supper mess.

But I did want to give you an update on Bennett's Montessori experience thus far. As I mentioned before, he went for orientation Thursday. It was great. He had a wonderful day, no fussing what-so-ever when I left him there or when I picked him up. Friday was his first actual day. Same thing. I walked him inside, and once he hit that classroom, off he went to play. No looking back. So, I turned around and happily walked out. When I picked him up that day, he fussed a little - because he didn't want to leave!

What a relief! I have the best little boy ever! He's the friendliest, most independent little guy!

We had a great weekend, getting to spend time with Pop and Gigi, since Pop came to help Josh with the back porch at "the green house," and Gigi decided to come with him and visit with Bennett and me.

Monday morning, back to the routine. We got up, ate our breakfast, got dressed and headed out. When we got to Montessori, I walked Bennett in and when he got to the classroom, the assistant led him over to where some other children were playing. I spoke with his teacher for just a bit before leaving. As I walked out the door, I looked back to see what Bennett was doing. BIG mistake. He happened to be looking at me that very moment, and he totally lost it. He started crying hysterically. I looked at his teacher and said, "Should I just go, or should I hang out a minute?" Well, I know the answer to that, having worked at Kids R Kids. LEAVE. Which is what she told me to do. So, I did. And I could hear him crying all the way to my car.

Boo. :(

It made me pretty sad. But it wasn't that bad, because, again, having been in the role of the teacher before, I know that as soon as the parents are gone, the children are fine. They get over it. So, I'm sure Bennett was over it in no time. When I picked him up that afternoon, he was happy to see me.

Tuesday morning, we pull into the parking lot. He whimpers a little bit when I stop the car. He's fine as I take him in, but as soon as his little feet hit the floor of that classroom, oh no. Hysterical. So, I picked him up and carried him over to a little train that was sitting in the floor. I tried to get him interested in that. He did calm down a little, but he continued with what Josh and I call his 'sup-'sups. You know, after a child has been crying for a while and they're trying to catch their breath and return to normal? Anyway, I eventually had to get up and leave, and again, I got to listen to him cry all the way to my car.

When I picked him up that day (on the playground again, just like every other day), instead of him spotting me and calling, "Mama!", he spotted me and started crying immediately. His teacher looked at me with a surprised look on her face. I said, "Has he had a bad day?" She said, "No! He's been fine all day!"

So this morning, the same thing. Only, it started in the car. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, he looked over, realized where he was, and started bawling. Tears streaming down his face. Ugh, poor thing! I hate that!

I just hate that he's so confused about what's going on. That's all it is. He loves being there, I know. And I love, love, love the school and the teachers, and the other parents seem great (we haven't gotten to know anyone yet), so I'm completely comfortable with where he is and what we're doing. He's just so used to being at home with me all day long, every day. Pretty much getting to do whatever he wants to do (to an extent, of course.) And now, I'm feeding him breakfast and taking him to these strangers every day and not coming back for hours. And these strangers are telling him he has to sit in this circle with everyone else, and to top it off, he can't understand a word they're saying half the time!

His teacher told me that when she speaks Spanish, he just stares at her mouth, watching her lips. If I haven't mentioned already, almost all of the teachers there are hispanic, and they speak Spanish as much, if not more, than they do English. Which I LOVE.

Anyway, he was fine this afternoon when I got him. He was glad to see me, and he waved and told everyone "bye" over and over. I stopped and talked to one of the teachers that was there when I was there (over 26 years ago!), and he just jabbered and giggled the whole time.

So, we'll see how tomorrow goes. I know it will get better. It just takes time to get used to the routine. The routine he's going to get used to and then be taken out of it for an entire week to go to Florida, and then return to have the routine change, because he's then going to have to listen to those Spanish speaking women tell him where to sit and eat his lunch and what little mat to lie down on and go to sleep! What?!?

Oops.