I know, I know, you've been checking my blog every hour all day just waiting to hear all about how kindergarten has turned our lives in to a living... well a stressful, non-peaceful, unenjoyable place to be. So here it is.
Kindergarten is crap. It's apparently not all naps, storytime and pretend play.
And for my little overly-anxious 5 year old it has turned out to be very difficult. She comes home tired and grumpy which makes the rest of us equally grumpy and then because she is so overly-tired and apparently stressed-out (kindergarten can be oh so stressful) she can't sleep.
Bedtime has become a living nightmare! That's the word I was looking for ;) After an hour or so of crying and getting out of bed and making absolutely no sense, she finally falls asleep. We enjoy an hour or two of peace until she wakes up and insists on sleeping with us. Which of course we DO NOT ALLOW but because we are too tired to really fight her (we did one night and we were all up for 3 hours in the middle of the night) she ends up sleeping on the floor next to my bed, which is better than in my bed but not by much because she wakes up periodically and stands next to my bed, right in my face and just waits until her presence jolts me out of my slumber and scares the living snot out of me.
In the morning I have to wake her up because she's gotten such a lousy night's sleep that she wants to sleep until noon (and so do I frankly) but she's forced to get up and get going which is also a pleasant experience. She usually perks up and is fine after a little oatmeal (because oatmeal makes everything better). The drama starts up again about the time the bus pulls up at which point she either clings to my legs and screams or she runs away and I have to chase her down and toss her on the bus. I spend the next 6-7 hours stressed out because my baby is presumably miserable. She gets off the bus and proceeds to tell me all about the naughty children at school that don't listen and get in trouble, she cannot comprehend this. She says "I wish they would just be good so I can learn, all I want to do is learn."
Ok so there it is. Now I have to be honest and say that not everyday is this bad, not everyday includes all aspects of this particular scenario. But it's still exhausting and not at all what I expected. I thought she would skip off to school with her blond little pigtails swaying in the breeze and I would go home and make chocolate chip cookies and peacefully wait for her to come smiling home to me. If I make cookies will she skip off to school and come home smiling? Will she go to bed without irrational fits of crying and screaming? HELP!! Or don't. Either way I really just needed to let it all out and get it down on paper so some day I can look back and realize "kindergarten was nothing compared to 7th grade!"
8 comments:
I"m so glad I read your post. We have VERY similar problems. It's a long comment, so I'll be e-mailing you. HOpe it helps. Hang in there MOmma!
I wish I had something helpful to say. Kindergarten here is only half day. Which I think is just right for a 5 year old. I remember my daughter Brook having a really hard time when she started first grade because it was 6 hours. I think it's especially hard for kids who don't spend the first five years of life in day care. It's a hard adjustment. But hang in there, she'll adjust.
yikes! sorry i'm no help here :(
wow, now i'm scared. hunter has been looking forward to kindergarten for years now. every time we drive by his future school, he gets so excited. what if it's all a let down? yikes, i don't know if we can handle that. although, on the other hand he may be one of those "difficult" children mckay can't understand, in which case maybe we'll be okay. so yeah, good luck with that.
Oh that stinks!!! Okay so I really think McKay needs what Makaya has and Makaya needs what McKay has... Makaya is only 3 hour kindergarden, but after having a year of preschool/and UK kindergarden last year, this 3 hour bit isn't working out at least for me..because she knows it ALL! And its undoing everything she knows too...which I need to blog about anyway...so I think she needs the full day, but it sounds like the 3 hours would be well enough for McKay just so you can have sleep time back! I think it's so cute that all she wants to do is learn! Way cute---but then even if McKay were in 3 hour Kinder.-- I'm not sure what all they can learn in 3 hours with that including, No-running recess and snacktime.
I really hope that it gets better for you and her and the family!!
Sarah had a difficult adjustment at first due to the long day, but I think her body has finally adjusted. When she gets home, sometimes I let her have a snack in the kitchen all by herself. She needs alone time to unwind when she gets home. After that, she's usually pleasant. Some days are better than others. But, the alone time to unwind has really helped us out.
You have got to Ferberize that child! I'm all for giving children latitude and freedom in their lives, but I have zero tolerance for problems that involve kids waking me up at night.
[Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, by Dr. Richard Ferber]
Best. Book. Ever! I guarantee your local library has a copy.
Wow, that sounds really tough. Poor cute McKay (and you!). Could you arrange to have the car to take her on various days to school and then slowly have her taking the bus again more and more? It sounds like the bus is only part of it, but from your story of her missing the bus, maybe it is a big deal. How is the teacher? Her seating arrangement?
I googled 'my child is terrified of kindergarten' & found this little forum - don't know if it's super helpful or not. ... http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/68991.page
And this is a forum about somebody's kindergartner being terrified of taking the bus: http://forums.familyeducation.com/discuss/school-issues/my-child-terrified-riding-school-bus
That's kind of funny about her spookily standing next to you & staring at you while you sleep.
I hope it gets better soon!
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