When Teacher's Learn

This is a brief update to the post about forcing independence on a child which happened to personally affect my daughter at that time. I want to mention that while it could appear that I'm an over-protective mom or that my daughter is somewhat timid, this is not at all the case. She is a fiercely independent child (even domineering at times if I don't keep her "in check"). Prior to attending this school, she merrily climbed up on the bus each day and headed off to school. As for me being over-protective, I can only say that my first child marched off to school without batting an eye and so 3 other children. I love their natural independence! :-)

The result from our recent challenge:

I decided, as I always do, that if I could resolve the issue without confrontation I would. So the next day of school we went a bit early to find her classmates lined up at the door. Upon seeing them, she grabbed a hug and kiss and joined the line leaving me and several teachers slack-jawed. The next school day, we arrived even earlier so that she could go into the auditorium before school. I showed her the row her class sits on and pointed out that her teacher was there. She didn't even bother with a hug or kiss this time. (I had a conference later this day with the teacher.) And ever since that day she has marched off to class without me. Just a hug, kiss and maybe a slight turn to blow a second kiss.

In the meantime, I'd had a scheduled conference with the teacher (standard procedure at report time). We conversed about the changes in her life at this point. When she mentioned that Lorelai only seems to get "a little teary" and "slow to get started" in the mornings, I mentioned "this IS a new environment. New routines and such." The look on the teacher's face seemed to be one of sudden realization as she said, "a completely new routine!" as if this hadn't occured to her previously. We discussed, too, the changes in Lorelai's life. She'd been ill for 2 months; left her home and school due to mold in the home; left her siblings 60+ miles away; left the country and came to the city; etc. These were all things the teacher wasn't aware of until this time. She said to me, "WOW! Given all of that, she's doing extremely well!!"

So that little bit of "teary eyes" doesn't seem such a big deal now does it? Now it seems quite small considering the upturning of this child's life. Ahhh the power of knowledge!