Tearful Mornings

Allan and I breathed a sigh of relief when Delaney's first three days of school went off without a hitch.  She came home saying that it wasn't just a good day it was a super great day or, in her cute way of speaking, that it was a "perthect" day. 

Needless to say we were surprised when out of the blue during the second week of school she told me that she cried for me at lunch.  Then the next day she cried so hard because she didn't want to go to school at all!  I even got an email from Mrs. Roney saying that Delaney had a teary lunch time one day and suggesting that I send a picture of myself in her lunch box.

Of course, I agreed to send the picture, but I was confused.  Delaney never seems to miss me and she has been away from me at school  for several years now.  Also, as soon as lunch was over everyday, she had a great afteroon.  I knew that there must be a bigger issue.  Thankfully, Mrs. Roney is an observant teacher and was able to get to the root of the problem.  Delaney is a pokey eater and was so afraid that she would have to go to the "transition" table which is the table that children can move to if they aren't finished with their lunch when their class goes out for recess and the next class is coming in.  They don't have to move there but Delaney didn't realize that.  So for about a week, she would start out the morning feeling anxious, not wanting to eat, crying, and asking us to not send her to school.  She even cried off and on all morning in her classroom.  It made us all so sad and we did everything we could to reassure her that things would be okay.  I made sure to pack smaller lunches and Allan went through her lunch box with her every morning to talk about what she should eat first, etc.  Most importantly, we had our friends and family praying that Delaney would have peace and begin to love going to school again.  By the end of the week, we had it all under control and she came home from school on Friday reporting that she didn't cry at all! 

We thought we were in the clear until this week she started getting weepy again on Monday.  What?!?!  It turns out that now that the lunch problem is solved, Delaney has started getting anxious about sitting in the gym in the morning while waiting for the morning assembly to start.   She says that she is nervous because Mrs. Roney isn't standing right by her.  We've talked and prayed through that problem and, as of yesterday, school was back to being "perthect".

Sorry, Delaney, it appears that you have your Mommy's fear of change and anxiety over new situations :(

A smiley, happy  Delaney eating breakfast with Harper and Alayna before getting on the bus this morning.