Preschool

First day of preschool

We started preschool. It's been kind of a whirlwind and not what I expected. Dylan actually is very happy to go to school each morning and is sad when it is time to leave. That's the good news. So far, we've only stayed for a few hours each time and today was the first day I left him alone in the classroom while I went outside "to get a coffee." He didn't cry but the teacher said he kept asking when I'd be back. Tomorrow we will stay longer and eat lunch there together, and on Friday he will eat lunch alone (with me outside waiting) with the other kids.

What has taken me by surprise is Dylan's behavior. He's much more aggressive. He's begun to hit us and lash out at us. He calls me "ugly ugly" in Italian and says things like "This pasta is disgusting!" This morning as we were going to preschool he told me I was ugly and so was my car. At school, he's very rough with the other kids and does things I've never seen him do before, such as rip a toy out of another child's hand or shove another child. That is not my sweet little boy. The teacher asked me if the other kids at his play group were older or younger. I told her they were all younger, and she said that may explain it. At preschool, he is the youngest kid in the class. Even though he's tall and the teacher said he has a surprising vocabulary and speaks better than some of the three-year-olds (insert proud mamma emoticon here!), he realizes he's younger and he is being aggressive to show he can run with the big dogs. It's like survival instinct. She said that at home he's probably acting the way he is to punish us.

The teacher said that this period is almost like a "mourning period" for him where he realizes that his mother will not always be around, and all of this is his way of dealing with it. If that doesn't make a mother feel guilty, I don't know what will! I can see that he loves going and that he is going to learn a lot and thrive there, but this whole orientation process is a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

P.S. Mom, empty your mailbox. I've been trying to email you for a few days. You may be getting a Gmail account for your birthday!