A few weeks before she left Cathedral House, she began voicing some anxiety about leaving. Once she left, her need for mamma grew much stronger. She refused to go to a week of "fun camp" (literally, this is what it was called - it was pool time and arts/crafts) at our local club WITH her best friend Emma. Refused to go. She also opted out of playdates where mommy couldn't come and she nearly had a melt down to go to lunch with Mimi and Grandpa because I was going. (Only a bribe of going to the American Girl Doll store was able to save that lunch!). So Matt and I were in a near panic in the days before Kinder started. At one point she told Matt "no thanks" in response to Kinder. As if he offered her some Goldfish. No thanks.
We also got this note from her a few days before school started. "Hi mom. I have some butterflies in my tummy and I am a little scared. xoxo, Olivia." I mean...the spelling is the best thing ever. As is that she signed it "xoxo, Olivia." Second only to how she was able to articulate her nerves.
The first step was New Student Orientation on the Friday before school. As you may suspect, there was a LOT of thought put into this outfit. I think it was perfect!
At this event, parents were invited too. We prepped her hard before hand - looking at pictures of all the teachers on line, going over the way we act when we meet an adult (shake their hand, look them in their eye, answer questions clearly). So we summoned all our courage and off we went. And, all that worry for nothing! IT WENT GREAT! We walked in and the principal, vice principal and various specialist teachers (librarian, computer, science, music) were there to greet us. She got a name tag as soon as she arrived, so as we entered the library, everyone greeted her "Hi Olivia!" The Vice Principal took her hand and asked her if she wanted to meet her teacher (an event we did not think was going to happen). She excitedly said yes and they led us to the wonderful Mrs. Hayden, who greeted Olivia with a big, warm hug and exclaimed how excited she was to have Olivia in her class. She then introduced Olivia to the other kids standing around her, all of who were also in her class. Olivia immediately recognized a little girl named Isabella. She pointed her out and told me Isabella was at her interview and it jogged all our memory. Luckily, Olivia's timidness was balanced out by Isabella's outgoing personality. As the principal announced that the kids would be going back with the teachers for a few minutes, I saw Olivia's eyes grow wide and fill with tears. But before those tears could slip out of her eyes, Isabella grabbed one hand and Mrs. Hayden grabbed the other and whisked her off. I stood back, nodding encouragingly and promising to stay right there and wait for her. About 30 minutes later, we saw the kids coming and Olivia was at the front of the line, holding Mrs. Hayden's hand. She ran up to me and said "I had so much fun!! They have babydolls in the class!"
School started the following Tuesday. She woke up very excited. We had breakfast, got dressed and we all headed out.
As we walked into the school, we arrived a few minutes before 7:45, so we were ushered into the gym where we were greeted by the Vice Principal, Mrs. Lemon.
I could see Olivia's excitement turn to anxiety. Mrs. Lemon kneeled down and said "Remind me of your name." She quietly said, "Olivia." Mrs. Lemon said "Hi Olivia. You can stay here till 7:45 and then you can go to class. Your mommy and daddy can wait with you. Do you remember my name?" And without missing a beat, Olivia said "Yes, its Jill." UMMM. MRS. LEMON quickly smiled and said "Yes my name is Mrs. Lemon." (We had a chat that night about how you call elders by their last name as a sign of respect - she's still skeptical of this tradition).
We waited for a few minutes and Matt and I gave each other worried looks. Finally it was time to go and we walked her to her room. The teachers were standing at the door to greet the kids and Mrs. Hayden took her hand as soon as we go to the door. It seemed like a good time to slip out, so we started to leave. Before we got 5 steps down the hall, we heard "MOMMY!" and Olivia ran out crying after us. It took lots of hugs, kisses and cajoling, but she finally went back into the room, sat down and agreed to stay while we left.
She only had school till noon that day, and I was SO glad for the short day. I got in line for carpool pick up early and nervously waited for her. She was fine! She got into the car and told me what a fun day she had, some friends she made and that they have iPads in the classroom. As I'm writing this post, we are about a month into school and in that short time I feel pretty safe in saying that I think Olivia is going to be okay and is right where she needs to be.
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