First child syndrome

This has been a stressful week. Muffin started kindy this week; where the twins are at.

It shouldn't have been stressful. After all, he did spend a year at childcare. He has seen his siblings go to school. He has been in the school a million times.

But it was.

He wouldn't let me out of his sight. He held on to any part of me; a pant leg sufficed. Even when I managed to convince him to go play or explore the toys in the classroom, he would only if his other hand was wrapped tightly around mine.

By the second day, he battled the uniform and declared that he was going to "stay home with Kakak! Mommy go work!" It was full on tears. And it was as if he grew spidey pads overnight that allowed him to stick to the ground and be literally 3Med onto the ground.

It took a huge combined effort between our helper and myself to get him to the car. After which, he sulked all the way to school.



I see flashes of the independent Muffin in class when he brings his own bowl back after lunch and is able to unzip and zip his backpack after fishing out his hat. I see him thrilled to bits at the size of the playground and run off to scale some new slides and catch the bubbles that his teacher is blowing. At that point, I think I can let him be and take a step back.

Only to be dragged back in to the thick of things by that little hand that constantly keeps seeking mine.

All this shouldn't faze me. He isn't my first kid and this isn't the first time I am sitting through a new school with the kids. But after yesterday, I think I will develop an ulcer if the crying continues. I try to recall if the twins were so clingy at kindy. I remember that child care, when they were 20 months old, was traumatic but proper kindy seemed a relatively easy transition. Either that or I have a supremely bad mommy memory and have blocked out all the trauma of the older two's first day of school.


Pretty much a case of Fifty First Dates. 

My only hope is that the bus ride to school and boarding it with his brother and sister will help him get over the reluctance. 

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