Master E started Kindy (pre-school) at the beginning of the school year and to say it’s been the start of a positive journey would be an understatement! Being that he would be one of the youngest starting due to the new one intake date in South Australian schools, I was a little nervous for him. Although he is one of the youngest and one of the smallest he is thriving. I knew he was ready for the social aspect of kindy, he loves playing with other kids and seeks them out, especially other little boys, but I was worried that the structure and formal learning would be too much for him. My fears were soon put to rest. Master E has been a little behind in his language and communication due to past ear infections and issues but is coming along in leaps and bounds with the help of his dedicated teachers. To see him introduce himself at the park to other children and be understood clearly brings me so much joy I can’t explain it. His confidence with his speech has further unlocked his lovable and cheeky personality, providing us with so many laughs at his developing sense of humour and the telling of his funny, creative stories. His frustration of not being understood is becoming less and less frequent which makes for a very happy boy and an extremely proud Mummy. I have a meeting with the DECD Speech pathologist that has been working with E and some of his classmates in a few weeks and I’m very interested in what she has to say. He is making new friends and the feedback I have received from his teachers is great. Starting Kindy this year has been a huge plus for all of us.
While Ethan loves Kindy our goodbyes have become hard of late. It’s sad and unfair as he has been happy to go and has casually given me a hug and a kiss goodbye until a recent upset when visiting his Dad. For whatever reason, I have a pretty good idea why, his Dad did not give him a hug and a kiss or even say goodbye when the kids were recently picked up after spending a few hours with him. There were tears, or rather wracking sobs on the driveway and all the way home that day. He begged me to tell his Dad to say goodbye to him, something I couldn’t do. He was devastated. After hugs and some reassurance we calmed down and got on with our routine. Those feelings of hurt and confusion haven’t gone away though and will probably stick around for a while. I really grappled with the best way to handle the questions and the sadness that came from this incident and while in the past I would have made excuses I decided E deserved more than that. So I didn’t brush it off with a “Daddy is busy” or “Daddy has a sore back”; I acknowledged the hurt. I told him I understand why he is upset and that’s ok. That feeling sad when someone hurts our feelings is the way we all feel sometimes. He wanted to me to tell his Dad and so that’s what I did. I let Ethan know that I spoke to his Dad and that Daddy knows that he hurt his feelings and said sorry which has improved things a little. I just don’t think E’s father completely understands the magnitude of his actions, the small things to us can be monumental to the little people in our lives and a simple I’m sorry to me isn’t going to cut it. Ethan has mentioned the incident a few times this last week so it’s obviously still on his mind. As for our day to day, we are now persevering with our goodbyes and reassurances that I’ll be back after he has a fun day with his friends or when I get home from work. It’ll get better, the tears will stop eventually but I’m not positive this is the last time Master E will experience these feelings due to the actions of someone who is supposed to put his needs first. Harsh but true.
Someone else making great progress is Miss E. She has really become quite the little chatterbox and her vocabulary is exploding at the moment! It really is exciting watching your children grow. Miss E is such a funny little girl, at times she is quite serious and takes a little while to warm up in new surroundings but once she has, look out! She is cheeky and lovable and has a healthy dose of sass. She waves, says hello and bye-bye to everyone while we’re out and is ready to play up the cuteness to anyone who looks her way. Miss E loves her “babies” and takes them for walks in her dolls pram, steals my keys to put in her own handbag and walks around pretending to talk on my phone whenever she can get her hands on it. I love both my E’s to pieces, as does the whole family. It’s corny to be sure, but they really are my pride and joy!
Edit: It’s been 2 weeks since our goodbye drama and while Master E is still hesitant to say goodbye the tears have stopped for now.
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