Preschool: Leaving Home For The First Time

As many parents will testify, on the one hand you are counting the days until your toddler is big enough to start school, to fledge the nest at least for a couple of hours each day, to mix with other toddlers, interact with other adults and teachers and take a small step into the big wide world. It is an extremely proud moment in any parents' life, but also a day which can be tinged with sadness. It is the first step towards their independence; they will have to cope without you for a couple of hours at least, for the very first time in their short lives.Of course, we all want this transition to go as smoothly as possible, but there is a small part of us which doesn't want to let go at all. As long as we have prepared our children for this first step along their lives, then everything should be fine. It is important to talk to your child all about what will happen at the nursery school, what they should expect, and of course, be waiting in plenty of time for when they have finished and eagerly run to the door to be greeted.It is usual for the first day to go very well without any mishap at all, but then, maybe towards the end of the week as the child gets more tired and realizes that this is happening every day, tears and tantrums can start after the first few days. Very often, even if your child has to be peeled crying from you first thing in the mornings, within a few minutes of you leaving he or she will have settled quite well and be playing happily with the other children. This has been confirmed to me by many nursery school teachers and assistants alike, 'they'll be fine when you've gone', and usually they are. That of course, still doesn't make it any easier to abandon your crying child to the care of others.