School Transition

Maddie has been in school for 3 days now. The first day of school went as smooth as can be. But by the second and third day, she realized that this "routine", where mommy and daddy leave her with strangers all day, was not as much fun as she originally thought.

The morning time rituals were already grueling: not only were we racing against the clock to get the kids dressed, fed and ready for school, but Maddie decided to add to stress by making a personal pro-fleece pjs, anti-uniform policy. We understood where she was coming from; she clung to her warm and fluffy fleece footie pajamas in an effort to have something familiar and comforting in this time of great change. But in the 80 degree California heat, there was no way she would survive without a major heat rash wearing the thick fleecy jammies.  We tried desperately to negotiate with her to take them off. We tried the ol' switch n' bait trick by quickly switching the pjs with something equally cuddly and soft but she began screaming like a banshee. After nearly 20 minutes of failed negotiations, Jin and I turned to less diplomatic tactics and physically peeled her out of the pjs forcefully. Needless to say, she was NOT happy.  As a consolation, we let her put the pjs over her already two layers of uniform in hopes of calming her down. She looked ridiculous in 3 layers of clothing, like a puffed marshmallow, but at least she stopped crying and was willing to go to school.

The uniform stuffed marshmallow

Ready to go!

Feeling a little snug in the thighs.  I wonder why...

 The teachers were understanding and accepted her in her marshmallow form. Later I was told that once she saw all the children staring at her, she relented and allowed the teachers to quiety take off her pjs. The rest of the day, she worked diligently and curiously with all the other children. Bella reported that Maddie learned her numbers and ABCs and that she was carrying her own worktrays to her mat by herself! She even received a sticker from Ms Angel for her exemplary behavior!

This Monday morning, after a fun-filled weekend with mommy, daddy and Bella, Maddie sat quietly eating her breakfast while I strategized my moves in my head on how I would get her pjs off. I knew I had to handle the situation swiftly, yet delicately. Like a special forces agent moving in to detonate a bomb, I stealthily moved one arm out of the sleeves.  Then the next arm.  I checked for facial expression to detect any signs of deterrence. None, so far.

Then, I quietly announced, "I can put on the pjs over the uniform if you want, Maddie."

No change in expression.  Maybe she didn't hear me.

The pjs were off. Now it was time for the uniform. First the shirt.  I knew I had a small window of opportunity  to get the uniform on, but if I moved too fast, I could disrupt the rhythm of movement that was currently acceptable and inadvertently cause a nuclear meltdown.  Trying to keep both hands steady, I slid the shirt over her head and pulled the shorts on in two smoothly flowing steps. Now the jumper.

By now, I had built some confidence so I was less careful in maintaining the rhythm as before.  The jumper was contorted and I tried several times to fit it over her head.  I held my breath preparing for resistance. She barely mumbled a thing and finally, the jumper was straightened on her small frame!  We did it!  PJs off, uniform on, and ready for school!  Disaster averted!  Jin watched from afar and thanked me copiously for handling the delicate situation.

Thank you, Maddie.  Mommy can go to work now without banshee screams ringing in my ears.