• We must cut the mother-child cord that was our safety net the first two years of life
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Whoop whoop! Back-to-school days are like spa treatments for stay-at-home mums. We look forward to them long before they start and are crestfallen when they come to an end. As much as we love our kids and want to be with them all the time, we need those few hours they are in school to function.
We get to clean without interruption. We run errands without dragging screaming toddlers along. We get to reset the home, our bodies and minds before our kids come back from school. Schools are not just important and vital for our kids' education but also for mums to get that much-needed time away from kids.
While my three-year-old is technically not in formal school, we refer to daycare as school for him in order to create a mental awareness and preparedness for the school environment, hence the North Americans referring to it as pre-school.
Putting our child into daycare was a decision we made for both our benefits; my son would have exposure to other children and a different environment from home, and I would have time to accomplish other goals.
As nervous as I am for him to start kindergarten in a month, I can't help but marvel at the difference a year has made. When we started daycare a year ago, my son made sure I was within eyesight the whole time. Even as he transitioned to staying there without me, he would have random meltdowns, prompting me to pick him up before time.
Now he is an eager little man, excited to go to ‘school’ as he calls it. He mingles and plays with the kids better than he did before. He loves his daycare attendant and rushes into her arms every morning. He's learning to take his own shoes and jacket off. He's learning to express himself both in English and the local language.
The change I've seen in him makes me tear up, knowing that my baby is all grown, but it is also an eye-opening experience as I am learning that my child is his own person. He can learn new things and venture off on his own and he will be okay. All I need to do is learn to let go of his hand at certain times. For him to be independent, we must cut the mother-child cord that was our safety net for the first two years of life.