Editor’s Note: To a mother, a child will always remain a child. No matter how much she grows up. So too with this mother – our IL member, maya84. Read her story about what happened when it was time for the child to go to school for the first time. Share your stories with us here too.
June 5,2013 my dearest daughter’s first school day.
Night before I had put her early to bed. I had to be with her for 1 hour to make her sleep as she was very much used to sleeping late. I watched her sleeping happily and could not really accept the fact that she has grown up and set to go to school.
My sleep was troubles with the over anxiety of her first school day. While staying sleepless, I recollected the first time when I saw her in the labour room. She looked so cute with rosy cheeks and unlike other babies on her first day only she had opened her eyes wide open and was looking at me. I was feeling she is the most beautiful baby in this world. I wanted to take her and kiss her but I didn’t know how to carry a new born baby.
I was missing her old days and so I took my phone and browsed through my daughter’s old videos and pictures. Myself and my husband together watched all those fun filled moments – my daughter trying to crawl and getting disappointed and trying to see if she could give support to her head and crawl, her first steps , her initial talks which had only “amma’ and ‘acchii”. My eyes were watered while watching it and my husband too became emotional watching it.
My husband reminded me to sleep as we too need to train ourselves for waking up early. In some time my husband slept while I watched my kid sleeping. I kissed her and hugged her and finally at some point of time I fell asleep.
In the morning I woke up early with full excitement of my daughter’s first school day.
Unlike other days my first call made her open her eyes. But she was still sleepy. I told her we will play a game and I asked her to roll on the bed to the side and as she rolled and reached the other side where the pillow was kept , I also managed to roll and reach there along with her and she started laughing as she enjoyed it and she said “Amma, now you roll”. I rolled to the other and she followed me and followed by a big laugh by both of us. After that I played some of her old videos which she loves watching on my phone (Normally she is restricted access to my phone). I ensured that her day is started well with no anger and crying.
She is normally reluctant to brush her teeth. That was I put forward a deal to her “Amma will brush your teeth and you can brush mine”. My little one agreed and she enjoyed it.
She drank only a little of milk but I didn’t compel her much. I took her story book and read few of her favourite stories while I fed her Dosa. After that I gave her a bath which she enjoyed as always and got her dressed up. She herself told me to put her school tag and bag on her. I did it. My husband took click of her first day to school. She stood in different posses and I could not laugh seeing the posses that she gave.
Myself, my husband and my dearest daughter together started to school which was hardly 4 KM from our house. I was thinking about how she would manage her first day but my husband and daughter were calm and relaxed. We reached school at around 9am.
School gate was closed and all parents were standing outside with full anxiety of the first day at school. Many kids were crying. At the school gate only principal hold her hands and took her inside and asked us to leave the school and come back by 12 noon. I watched my kid walking with the teacher and I saw her looking back twice at me. I could not bear the pain of seeing that and so I moved to the side of the gate and asked my husband what is she doing. He said she happily went inside.
While traveling back home, I was feeling very emotional and anxious about her and my husband was saying “Today was not her wedding day and it is her first school day”.
While coming back home I was complaining about the school management for not allowing parents to stay there on first day. My husband tried to relax me telling me to think how difficult it would be for the school management to manage the kids and parents on the first day. I had severe head ache and my husband was saying it is because of my unnecessary anxiety that my head is aching.
At 11 am only I stated telling my husband that we will go to the school. My husband was calming me and finally we started at around 11.30 am . School gates were still closed. In the tension, I forgot to take the bearers card which needs to be shown at the school to send kid with parent/guardian. My BP again increased.
School gate was opened after the school buses left. We went near the Nursery B class and teacher told us that they already sent her in school bus. I got even more tensed and we moved towards the help desk person and asked the school bus help desk person about the bus route and route no. We were earlier told that once the bus route is ready we would be informed on the same and then only the school bus facility would be started. That was a big flaw from the travel department and many parents were shouting at them.
In the mean time I was trying to call up my kid’s care taker to be ask her to be at the bus stop as my daughter already took the school bus. Disappointingly her mobile was not reachable. Without wasting our time shouting at the bus manger, we immediately took the car. I was upset and my tension was driving me crazy. I was worrying how my kid would have felt as she was told that we will come to pick her up. My husband kept telling me to calm down and that the school bus will for sure not reach before we reach the pickup point. I was cribbing to my husband about the irresponsibility of the bus manager. My husband was saying these are very common on the first day and it will get settled in a 2-3 days time.
We reached the bus stop and I waited there. My husband went to our house and took the bearers card and came to the bus stop. We waited there. I was tensed and my husband stood there with the usual calmness on his face. We stood there for 10 mins and then we sat on the steps in front of a shop. I stood up restlessly as each school bus passed and peeped into it.
Finally my daughter’s school bus came and the care taker in the bus gave me my daughter school bag as my eyes were searching for my little one. I could finally breathe a bit after seeing my dearest daughter coming out though with a puzzled look. My daughter smiled seeing both of us. I lifted her and kissed her. Care taker told me that she was alright in the bus and didn’t cry. Just when the bus was about to leave I asked the care taker “where is the bag” without realising that it was already there in my hand. My husband started laughing and I too joined him.
After reaching home, I asked my daughter about her first day at school and she said everything went well but she cried for a while in the class. I asked her why. Her response was “Everyone in my class was crying and so I also cried”. My husband’s comment to that was “What a great team spirit”.
