The sinusoidal wave

Am talking about the love-hate-love wave of little A with his play school. The first day he thought was a bliss and was the happiest ever kid on earth. So many kids to play with, umpteen number of puzzles and blocks and bikes and skate boards and what not. Actually the whole first week went well, we gradually increased his time at school, 2 hrs, 4 hrs and the he willing did 6 hrs, i.e the fun packed 9-12 morning hours and post lunch siesta from 12-3pm. In spite of not understanding a word of hebrew, he coped very well and i was going ga ga over it. Then came the big interval, the Pesach or Easter break for about 1 week and the real movie starts here. He had totally forgotten about school!

Every morning was a saga to wake him up and get him to get ready and we saw the other side - the cry baby in him! Never has he cried so much, not a drop of tear when he gets his vaccine shots, he used to take them like tiny mosquito bites. OK, he did cry a bit when we got him tonsured, but that too towards the end of it for a few minutes when the falling hair irritated his eyes. The next time was when his ears were pierced, even this didn't last long. Some bitter crying was during my sis's wedding when A and I had disappeared early in the morning to welcome the then groom's side. But all those are excused since he was hardly 18 months old. But this 'no school war cry' was something which we never anticipated from him. He got more and more aggressive and it came to dislike-> hate -> abhor! Every morning we got into a deal, "Today, if you stay a good boy at school, then i would take you to the pool in the evening", then some mall, a park, a zoo, a great weekend trip and what not. This went on for 2 weeks. He didn't know their language, nor did the other kids understood English and he was frustrated to a large extent. He used to yell at his teachers, only 1 among the 4 understood and spoke English, so only she fell a prey to his screams, "call my mom, call my dad, call them now, i don't want to be here, i want to go home..." kinds. In fact Israeli kids are known to be very aggressive at school, so all the more and he learnt the worst :-(. One month of play schooling and he was getting no where.

We arrived at a point where we had to start all over again from zero. I started accompanying him, stayed with him for the initial 1 hour saying that i was going to be his friend at school. With the little hebrew i know, made friends with his play school mates and patched them up with A, then assured him that i would be back in 2 hours time, before his lunch was served and promised to take him home before the other kids got to bed for their afternoon nap. Arranged play dates on weekends, this really helped to a great extent. This continued for about 2 weeks and at last triumphed!!

Now, its like I drop him at school, walk into his class with him, sit with him and do a puzzle or two as he finishes breakfast and he would by himself say, " Inum 4 minutes-la kilambiko", meaning, you can leave in four minutes, he is obsessed with 4 - his birth date! And eventually when i say, "its time" he would just give me a big hug and a loving kiss. Doesn't stop there, his orders before i leave still remain, "come before they sleep and take me home!".

So, It has taken solid 2 months for him to get used to the whole play school thing. First time play/preschoolers moms, celebrate not when you see your toddler loving the play school at first instance, the trouble is only after the first few days. They usually complete this love-abhor-love sinusoidal wave before starting to be OK with it. But, as we all know every kid is different and they take their own sweet time in coping and this may not be the case with kids who are used to day care.