It has been a hectic week in our household, but a week of some important milestones. It's official, Mama's little boy is a schoolgoer!
As our triumphant trip back home was met with sighs of satisfaction and relief from friends and family (mostly from me), I embarked on our journey of emancipation and breastfeeding weaning. The real reason for our homecoming.
If you have been following my musings as a first-time mum, you will know that my child and I have been essentially attached at the hip. While we have spent several hours during the day together, we have never spent nights or days apart.
The first step to creating a safe and nurturing space away from me was to put him in daycare. However, we settled on enrolling him in a nursery school that accepted him even though he is under two years of age.
The said nursery school is familiar in the family as my other nieces and nephews attended it. The school is also in a secluded estate far from highways and any sort of looming danger. The selling point, however, was the experience and care that the staff exuded as you interacted with them.
My hard-to-please husband was sold within minutes of interacting with the head teacher. I could tell that her vast years of experience was the reassurance he needed to entrust his son to these particular early educators.
I decided to start him off on the sports day, and my decision proved successful because as soon as we stepped on campus, my tot sped off to join the other children playing. He's not particularly keen on playing with other children yet, but he does loves the outdoors and any sport that has balls.
Just like that, the first day went by…
There was no crying. No handovers. No meeting teachers or posing for a 'first day of school' portrait. According to the report, he played for a long time before he realised we were gone.
He's still adjusting. He's only at school for a little under four hours in the mornings, but it's a huge step for us. The past few months had been extra hard on us and we really needed to make this step for our family. That isn't to say that it hasn't been hard on both of us to be apart even for those short hours.
Although my baby is still under two years of age for the next three months, this has been a blinding reminder that my child will not remain a baby forever. I have come to learn that essential steps, such as going to school, are hard initially, but we are born to adapt and go through all these necessary 'firsts' to come out on the other end.
What is important is equipping my son with all the necessary skills he needs to survive in the outside world. While kindergarten might be the first step towards educating our children, for us it is also our children's first steps towards independence…
