So much for 'No Tears'

In a previous post I was very impressed that Sumayah coped so well with her first 3 days of school. Then it was weekend and my folks visited the monday, so I kept her out of school till the thursday. I'm not sure if this is what caused the change, but suddenly the thursday she put up a huge performance that she didn't want to go to school. According the the teacher she cried for a whole hour after I left! The next day was slightly better, she apparently only cried 5 mins after I left. I put this down to the fact that she wanted to be with the grandparents and was hoping today would be better. Alas it wasn't so! She was very enthusiastic about going to school in the morning saying that she would be a good girl and not cry, all the way up to the classroom door in fact. But the minute we stepped into the classroom and she saw another little boy crying, she started to crumble. She started crying saying she wanted to go home and wrapping herself around my neck. There have been times, especially after weekends when she would cry when I left for work and it never bothered me then, perhaps because I knew she was happy and well taken care of at home with her beloved Abegail. But I guess because the school is new to me too, it makes it really hard to leave her like that and trust that we have made the right choice in sending her to school so young. Bilaal started school at the same age and I recall we also had a tearful start, but that just feels like ages ago. We've been so used to a kid who is always excited to go to school, even sometimes asking if he can go to holiday school, that I need to remind myself that Sumayah's reaction is perfectly normal. I just hope that with the normal day to day routine of life settling in this week that the school drop-off will become better. Of course one hurdle overcome usually marks the start of the next in the world of parenthood...for us that next hurdle is Potty Training!