Now we're truly starting the year. February, carnival, and... School! Or daycare for the little ones, which is the case for my two-year-and-three-month-old son. This week was the first day of "school" in the new classroom, with a new group and new teachers. He has been a student since last year, so he knows well what it means to go to school. When he reached the door, he looked carefully, observed, climbed the little stairs, and suddenly turned back towards the exit gate. He said to me, in plain words: 'Mom, let's go home?'
What to do at that moment? In reality, the urge was to laugh. But I held back the laughter firmly; after all, we have to take our children's feelings seriously. What is funny to me is not funny to him. Just imagine, he had been at home for more than a month, playing with his toys, without much routine or set schedule, and suddenly, everything goes back to how it was last year. At the very least, it's boring. Calmly, I talked and explained that it was time to go back to daycare, play with friends, draw, paint, sing, and everything else. Still, he insisted, wanting to go home at any cost. The only way was to pick him up and enter slowly, showing the playground, the grass, the receptionists, the stickers on the walls, etc.
When we reached the classroom, even though he saw some of his old friends from the group, he made a face. He clung to my lap, and no saint could make him leave. Gradually, the teachers and I showed him that it was worth entering. Of course, I went along, sat down, played with him and the other children, sang songs from Xuxa and Galinha Pintadinha, played with clay, and right there, I became even more convinced of the importance of our presence in our children's daycare. We are their haven! This transition to another world, unknown, full of people they don't know, is complicated, requires psychology, requires a parent (or both), and requires care. I know, obviously, that not everyone can be present with their children at this moment, simply because they need to work, and then there is no other choice but to have a broken heart.
But for those who can take this little time, reorganize your schedules, include it as number 1 on the priority list, and personally handle the adaptation of your little ones to daycare. Participate in meetings whenever you can, talk to the teachers who take care of them, and talk to the educators, coordinators, and physical education teachers. Talk to everyone. What matters is being sure that your child is happy, in a healthy environment, developing, eating, and playing.
If we can increasingly increase the interaction between parents and school, rest assured that we will have a better world!
This chronicle was published on the Pais&Filhos magazine website in February 2012.
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