Pre-Cool for School

Kiernan has started preschool, ladies and gentlemen.

This is a picture of him on his first day of school. Behind him, looking on with pride, are his best stuffed friends, Guinea Pig, Meow Meow Kitty Cat, and Pooh Bear. These are the three friends that are absolutely indispensable at nap time and bedtime. They also have been known to go along when Kiernan goes somewhere in the car, although generally they need to stay in the car so as to prevent them getting lost. If Meow Meow Kitty Cat and Pooh Bear were ever to get lost, it would be very sad. If Guinea Pig were ever to get lost...disaster. Guinea Pig is the one friend we cannot do without. Naps, and thus civilization as we know it, would cease to exist.

Yes, yes. I do realize that I must prepare for the eventuality that Guinea Pig is going to go missing someday. This is the reality with little kids and toys. I still remember the family trip when Pooky went missing, never to return. Pooky was a cute little stuffed monkey that went with me everywhere. I left him in a hotel room. By the time I realized it we were hours away. It was awful. I almost cut our honeymoon short because of it.

But I digress.

I include Guinea Pig in this story because he was instrumental in helping Kiernan get used to preschool. Last year Kiernan went to school two days a week. He was in an infant/toddler program at a great charter school in our area, and we'd take him to his two-and-a-half hour classes, staying with him for the duration as parent participation was part of the program. This was great for Kiernan socially, as he learned how to interact with other kids around his age. I also learned how to be nice to people.

But Kiernan was going to "age out" of the infant toddler program in November, so we needed something else for him, and, really, he needed more of a challenge. At the age of three months--I'm not kidding--we put him on a wait list for a very special preschool called the CSUN Lab School. This school is on the campus at the Cal State University at Northridge, so the location couldn't have been much better. Plus, the program there is fantastic. It is called the "Lab School" because the teachers in training at CSUN work and learn there. It's kind of like a teaching hospital, like on the show "ER", but for teachers instead of doctors and without two idiotic freak helicopter accidents within the space of a single season.

But again, I digress. A few months ago, after being on the waiting list for so long, we finally found out that Kiernan had gotten into the CSUN Lab School. This was no sure thing. They accept very few kids as they want to keep the teacher-to-student ratio as high as they can, and they want to get just the right mix of kids. We were ecstatic when we found out Kiernan had gotten in, though it seemed pretty silly to be worried about such things as admissions before our son had even turned three. Furthermore, when I found out that Kiernan was going to be going to this five days a week, I have to admit I freaked out a little bit. Five days of school a week? Before he was three? Without us?

Deep breath.

This summer we had what the school calls "Transition Class" to prepare for the upcoming semester. Transition Class was a chance for Kiernan to get used to his new school two days a week, a chance for him to learn how to properly separate from us for the half day of school, and a chance for us to learn how to manage our feelings of helplessness and despair when it turned out he was pretty much cool with being away from us.

At first it was hard. For all three of us. Kiernan would cling to whichever one of us brought him to school, refusing to let us out of his sight. He would howl if we ever tried to leave the room. We would go out, promising to be back in ten minutes, and in five he would just sob for us to return. It was awful.

Eventually, however, he adjusted. After a few days he started to get more and more used to his teachers, bonding with them and starting to trust them. Guinea Pig was quite helpful at this time. The teachers suggested we bring in a "transitional object" that Kiernan could look to as a part of home, and Guinea Pig served that purpose. We'd bring him with us to school and hand him over a teacher. She would put him in one of her apron pockets. When the kids came in from "Outdoor Choice Time" she would put Guinea Pig in Kiernan's cubby outside the classroom, explaining that if Kiernan needed him all he had to was ask for him.

As the days progressed Kiernan would, of his own volition, just bring Guinea Pig in and put him in his cubby straightaway, never seeing him again until after school was over. Now that school has started--half days, five days a week--he barely even notices when we leave, giving us a quick kiss and going off to play with his teachers and his new friends. We're very proud of him, but it is a little weird watching him become independent.

This is way too long.

Anyway, let me just say that school is going well for him and I'll post again with a couple of other things in a bit.