Family Talk: The Morning Drop-Off

The new school year, as you know, has already begun. Summer vacation has come to an end and our daily routines are back in play.

For the older ones, this routine is a tad easier to get back into. They understand that it's time to get back to school daily. It's my personal experience, especially with these first few days, that the older ones accept this matter of fact better, for lack of a better term, than the young ones.

My son just started the 4th grade, and while he does make jokes about school being "torture," he walks in every morning without a problem. He doesn't prolong his walk to the door, nor does he flat out stop to try and keep the inevitable from happening.

He walks in, with a wave good-bye (because he's way too old for hugs and kisses) and that's that. My daughter, on the other hand, has days where a smile, kiss and hug are all that appear at the morning drop-off.

There are, however, days like today, where the steps slowly come to a crawl as we near the entrance and her body turns towards mine. Her face shows her desire before she gets a chance to cling to my hip, hug me and cry.

A little heart-breaking for me, but as a practical parent, I know that it is something that needs to be treated as if the emotions are unsubstantiated and unnecessary (of course when you know that your child is completely safe and happy after you leave).

So, I smile, at my 5 year old who is crying not to be left there, and remind her of all the fun activities she's been telling me about each day when I pick her up.

Passing her off to the teacher, telling her that she's going to have a great day, lots of fun, and that I love her, I begin to walk away, as she walks into the building.

I take a few steps, until she's not looking, and walk back towards the entrance to see how she's faring, as she continues to take her steps.

Now, she doesn't see me anymore at this point. And I can't help to wonder, does she think that I don't care about her feelings of not wanting to go? Does she think that I am not truly listening to her when she looks up at me, tears in her eyes, telling me that she wants to stay with me?

Maybe this has more to do with me than her. I was able to see her tears subside as she walked in, but my emotions, naturally, come into play. I wonder, how do other parents feel when they are dropping their young ones off to school and are met with the kind of experience I wrote about here. Do other parents get emotionally affected? Or do they see it as a part of the process of adjustment?