My Girl

 

My little girl.

 

My sweet, sensitive, hilarious, little girl.

 

The girl who sobs during bedtime stories when the baby kitten gets lost from her mother. The girl who squeezes next to me on a tiny chair as opposed to sitting anywhere else in the living room. The girl who skips from place to place, never walks. The girl who can't help from sing along to every song on the radio. The girl who writes the sweetest love notes.

 

She's been having a rough adjustment to kindergarten.  We've had tears every morning for the past week. Hers, to be clear. (I hold mine inside until she's on the bus.)

 

I think I did her a disservice during her last year of pre-k. I took her in when she woke up, usually around 9:30, so getting used to our new schedule of up at 7am and rushing around until the bus arrives at 8 has been tough. I think she's overtired. I think the novelty of kindergarten has worn off. I think she very much misses her daycare friends who she's known her entire life. I think she's unsure how to make new friends. I think she misses me.

 

I've taken her to school a couple mornings, per her request, and had lunch with her one afternoon, neither ended well. She cried harder when I had to leave than she does getting on the bus. A friend suggested I tell her I can continue having lunch with her as long as she doesn't cry when it's time for me to leave; but if she cries again, then no more lunch dates. She seemed receptive to that.

 

Another friend suggested I give her something of mine to take to school so when she's sad she can connect it to home and hopefully feel better. She picked my mother's day necklace adorned with engraved charms bearing her and Narls' names.  It's been two days and it's helping. We've had no tears and big smiles.

 

I'm hopeful she just needs a bit of time to adjust until that smile is back for good.