Thursday, October 09, 2008

Kanush goes to school (July 2008)


It was with a heavy heart and leaden footsteps that I took my daughter for her first day in school. A sweet and endearing chapter in her life was over. It seemed so soon. Sona's teacher is a jolly and kind lady called Anita. Biting back tears as I rang the doorbell, I explained to Sona that her mom and I are always with her and that if she needs to speak to any of us she just needs to tell the teacher and the teacher will call. The poor kid dint seem to understand what was going to happen. She was happy and giggling all the time. The door opened, I said my customary hello, pushed Sona in and shut it. I was glad I was spared the customary wail of sorrow from the unhappy toddler.

I went back to office dreading the call from the teacher saying she's crying too much. Half an hour later I got a call, there was a lot of crying. It was from Sona's mom, asking if it wasn't time to pick her up yet. Finally, mid afternoon, I went to get her. I ran the doorbell, got down on my knees, and waited for my little bundle of joy to fly into my arms, all tears and relief on seeing her dad. This is where the script went horribly wrong. Sona took one look at me and took off in the opposite direction. She hid under a table refused to come out. Asked me why she had to go home when all the others could stay (it was a full day class for them). I was blindsided. I had my well rehearsed lines to remove her sorrow over separation, but my extensive library on child raising hadn't hinted that I would have a problem getting my child to leave school to come home on the first day. I looked to the teacher for help, but she too hadn't seen this before. Finally, with promises of chocolates and puddings, I managed to get her to the car and home. I figured it's because of the excitement of being in a new place and getting to meet new people. It'll wear off after a while and then I'll get the crying scene I so richly deserve, I consoled myself. It's been three months now. The only difference is that she doesn't cry when I go to pick her up.