Danny's First Day at Pre-K

Danny had his first day at pre-school today and I was a little nervous. He hasn't been in a day-care situation since he was nine months old so I didn't know how he'd react to other adults looking after him. I've been building him up about how great and fun it will be and it all seemed well as we were leaving the house.

Once we got in his room he got stuck into the toys and actually played with another little boy a bit and interacted with one teacher a tiny bit. There are a set of triplet girls in his class that are just gorgeous and I met another mum that I got on well with. So all was well and then parents got asked to go to the parlour for a meeting with the centre director for 1/2 an hour while the kids stayed with their new teachers. As we started to leave the room, the 3 girls just started bawling and one boy's lip started quivering and I looked over at Danny apprehensively but he had his back to me playing on a magnetic board so I snook out. I felt so bad that I didn't tell him I'd be back, but I also didn't want to get him riled up.

When I got back to the room it was bizarre. He was stood by the big window, looking out, with his back to the room. He had his hands clenched and hanging down by his sides and his head was set far down, almost touching his chest. The pose he has when he's really mad or upset. I scooped him up and he said "and there's my sticker!" and pointed to his crumpled-up name badge on the floor. I desperately wanted to ask his teachers what had happened but the next group of new parents and kids were coming in so we left.

I tried to get him to carry his new bag and let me take his picture but he was not a happy camper at all, so this is my best shot..

As soon as got went into the school playground he was a different boy of course and back to his cheery self.
A lot of people have asked me how it went but I don't know really. He didn't cry but he wasn't happy. Not happy at all. He can be very shy at first and isn't a social butterfly with anyone except those closest to him (in contrast to Jack who wants to be everybody's friend). I knew he wouldn't interact too much but I didn't think he'd be unhappy or mad - like I think he was when I got back to the room. Time will help I know. I just need to give him time.