I thought I was being a smart mom. The other day, I took my almost-kindergartener and her three older siblings to the school playground. I figured this would be a fun way to introduce my youngest to her recess wonderland a month prior to school starting.
The experience was fun enough. She hung from the bars, tried out the balance beams, and went down the slides. When we were walking hand-in-hand to the car, she proclaimed it was “so much fun.” But in the few days that followed, she was a mess — clingy, cried easily, and easily angered. It hit me that no matter how our typically easygoing, excited kids are, if they’ve spent much of their childhood sheltered at home during the pandemic, school is going to be a harsh reality check.
Like many parents, our children’s pandemic preschool years weren’t at all typical
I’m experienced enough to know that we have to take this year in stride, being flexible and forgiving
Easier said than done, right? However, if we want our kids to have a good school year, the positivity and preparedness starts with us. Then we wait and see what happens next.
