The transition to Kindergarten (for Samuel) and preschool without Samuel (for Oliver) was REALLY DIFFICULT! I don't think anyone in our family expected both kids to struggle so much for so long. It is now mid-November and I feel like we are just getting into a routine. Here's a summary of the long transition...
Samuel:
The day before school started SEED realized that the district had over enrolled the school. Rather than have really huge K classes, the school decided to open a 4th class. This was great as class size dropped down to 21 students. But, in OUSD's infinite wisdom they authorized opening the class but would not authorize hiring an additional teacher. We were met on the first day with a substitute teacher.
The next 8 weeks were spent with 3 different substitutes (first was really bad, second was only there 2 days and the last was good but was about 80 years old and couldn't hear a thing!). Needless to say, Samuel was not happy about going to school each day. Most drop offs involved many tears. He LOVED his Spanish teacher but was not into the English part of the day. He invented his own rating system--1 was low and 10 was high. English never got above a 2 but luckily Spanish was off the charts at 150!
Kevin and I also really struggled with the lack of teacher. A group of parents got together quite quickly and met what felt like every day to hear the latest and develop plans. Within the first month of school we had organized our first protest against the district! We met with the Assistant Superintendent to get answers about the slow hiring process that did not include any parent or school voice. While I don't think it sped up the process of getting a teacher, it felt good to be proactive and it unified the parents.
On week 7 we finally got word about a teacher and she started week 8. Ms. Marx is officially in place and all is right with the world according to Samuel. School is now super fun. The tears have stopped, all the ratings have shot up to 150 and things are finally on track.
Oliver:
I don't think anyone could have predicted the difficult transition Oliver experienced. We underestimated how sad Oliver would be at school without Samuel (and all of Samuel's friends). While all the teachers and the routine was the same Oliver felt like school was a complete new experience and one he did not like. Huge tears and protests happened every morning until last week (yes, that is almost 10 weeks!). He usually had to be passed off to one of the teachers who would read to him, play with him and try to get him back to the Oliver they knew. At one point we tried a transitional object. We made a heart for him with a picture of Samuel that said "we love you". On one especially difficult day he was crying and showed this to the teachers who in turn started crying! I think everyone missed Samuel!
Kevin & I:
The biggest surprise was how much of a transition Kevin and I would feel within our family. There was something immensely difficult about having to be at school at a specific time five days a week. We were very used to having only 3 days of structure and even that allowed for drop off whenever we were up and ready. The routine initially felt overwhelming and confining. It is still feeling like a long week but getting up and out of the house is a bit easier now.
In addition to the overall schedule changes, Kevin and I were terribly emotional about the fact we generally had to leave 2 crying boys at different schools. The routine generally went--drop off Samuel who cried when we left him, hold it together for the drive to BJs, drop off Oliver who cried and clung to us, get in the car to drive to work and cry the whole way! Since we work across the street there were several meet-ups after drop off that included tears. It was all way too much! Luckily, after several weeks the tears finally stopped. It helps to see Samuel so happy and we think Oliver is getting closer to being happy.
