Katherine has had an unusual angst over misplacing me lately. Just today, she burst into tears when she couldn’t find me. (I was in the cellar sorting laundry.) Last week, she wanted to buy a beeper to attach to my “ankle, leg or neck”. She figures that it would be a great way to keep tract of me. She went on to further describe it as a two-way system that I could use like a walkie-talkie so I could tell her exactly where I am if need be. She’ll be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks and I think she cannot sort out her feelings. She’ll be separating from daily visits with grandma for day care and moving into life on her own.
I must say, she has always exhibited the utmost confidence and social maturity. She is usually beside herself with excitement over becoming a school kid. This new separation anxiety has really surprised me.
I can remember my first days of school being scary. What a big deal it was to leave the safety and comfort of the known! I was never good with change. There is no doubt in my mind that I would have been among those waving farewell to Lewis and Clark, not venturing with them. I still live in the same town where I was born. My travel experiences have never been out of country and hardly out of the Northeast. Once when the widening of a country road at my grandparents’ farm made it necessary to cut down rows of trees on either side, I was quite upset. The trees had delightfully echoed the sounds of tractors and the clippity-clop of the horses hooves, a familiar, welcomed experience on a hot summer day. I felt such a loss that I cried. I was about 10 and I can still hear my grandpa saying,”Susie never did like changes.”
Sights, sounds and smells were, and have always been, very precious to me. I believe I have a good memory and my devotion to sensual experiences must be an instrument of those memories. It certainly helps with my descriptions in writing and my experiences when reading too.
In my mind, a book is an “experience”. I often feel as though I am in a “fog” or waking from a dream, when I complete a good story. Even movies can leave me unsteady on my feet for long moments after they end! Yes, I do sit through all the credits in order to come back to the “here and now”.
I have every confidence that Kat will enjoy school very much. Until she adjusts, I will be mindful of her worries and we’ll talk about how she can make sense of her feelings. I see an awful lot of myself in that girl. She’s in for quite an interesting life.
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It’s really a good thing that you and she are so much alike, as when you tell Kat that you understand how she feels, she will know that you really and truly do know. Maybe if you pull out some of your old school photos of when you were about her age, you may come up with some memories that you can share to help boost her curiosity in new experiences, and new thing to learn.
My older daughter as well as my older sister always had difficulty with too much change, without enough time to acclimate. Somehow, it just never seemed to bother me nearly as much.
My younger sister’s hubby is very resistant to change, while my sister, seeks adventure, and excitement. They will celebrate their 41st anniversary, on the 7th of August, and they both have learned to adapt to each other’s little differences, and help with the bumps in the road they together.
Tell Kat I said, she will love it, once she gets used to all the new children she will have to play with, and some of the new things she will get to learn, and maybe share some of her stories, too.
Your suggestions are very good ones…for now, I am going to let her “work things out” without making it seem like such a big event. I’m afraid giving her anxiety too much attention would have an opposite effect. She really surprised me for sure. Katherine is the kid on the playground who makes friends with everyone without hesitation. Overall, I giggle to myself thinking about what her teacher will do when she realizes how gifted Katherine is 🙂
I completely agree. Kat’s teachers will be in for a big surprise, that is, unless they already know you.
My main concern for Kat is, that she very well may become very bored with school and students that are way behind her emotionally, as well as her abilities that are far beyond most youngsters her age, as well as some teachers who teach at that grade level. I know I did, but I just worked at my own pace, and the teachers let me help those who happened to not progress a fast. I really did enjoy helping them, as well as my teachers.
I am tickled with your in-depth comments my friend! I so appreciate the apparent caring that you feel for Kat. I too fear that she may be bored BUT living in a small city all of my life has made me aware of the “good” teachers and Katherine has a very good one.
Certainly, I’ll be proudly remarking on the ups and downs of this BIG year in her life. You are such a dear woman, thank-you!
I know you and Kat’s parents will do whatever is necessary to help her feel secure. I know that once Kat gets used to everyone and everything new, she will shine like the little star that she is. She’s just too creative to fail, and too smart, too, just like her Grandmother.
Her mom has a beautiful twinkle in her eye as well. Thanks Helen 😉