A terrible day for allergies

I read a series of posts on Facebook this week written by a mother who had just dropped her twin daughters off at Pre-K. The beginning of what now adds up to fourteen years of lower education. As luck would have it one was fine with the separation and the other was not; maybe a better term would be not at all. I have been down this road with a single child, but I can only imagine the stress of doing it with a double!

This really wasn’t a difficult transition for my daughter. She went right in and quickly forgot about me; I actually had to go find her to tell her I was leaving. She had already spent a little time in both a two year and three year old program at a local church, so she was kind of a school veteran by the time she was old enough to attend public Pre-K.

But for daddy it was very different. A full five day-8 to 3 work week! What a schedule for a four year old. Hell I didn’t work that much! I remember sitting in the crowded parking lot after dropping her off that first day and thinking, “maybe I should just wait a few minutes. Surely she will realize I’m gone and want me to take her home”. But the school didn’t call and after my wife assured me for the hundredth time that she would be fine, we headed home. This type of situation is terrible for my allergies, so instead of constantly wiping my eyes while driving and risking her safety…I let my wife pilot us back to the house.

Well of course she did fine. The teacher told us that she was “the class’s best napper” so I knew it had to be wearing her down; but she never complained. She was in bed by 9:00 and back up at 7:00 every day of the week; a bundle of happiness and energy that infected the entire household; a gift.

We’ve had quite a few more first days since this one, but they all have a similar feel. I no longer sit in the parking lot and wait for her to have a change of heart, although I do mention most every day that if she needs me all she has to do is…and I’ll be right…She smiles and waves me off now exactly as she did eleven years ago. Girls are so tough!

But I have to say that I’ve gotten much better at handling this first day. I now let my wife go on to work and I take our daughter alone. I drive her to school most days anyway, so I think the quicker we settle in to our typical routine the better off we will all be. We get back on the horse. It is probably for the best that I do this alone, I don’t want to endanger my wife while I’m driving on such a terrible day for allergies!