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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

My dd wont go anywhere daily where she will be loved as much as I love her....thats not going to happen is it :( ok so how do i deal with this?

109 replies

yummyummy · 11/09/2009 01:13

Here goes....
DD born 05, started school sept 3rd 2009. (her schools hrs are 9am-12noon everyday until 21st sept then will be 9am-3pm) She has never been babysat or looked after by any1 but me or dh, apart from nursery staff from when she was 2 yr's old. Even that was only 4 hour a wk (2hr on mon, 2 hr on fri)

Today (day 5 of her schooling) we have an interview about dd, as does every parent at her school in reception regards their child. DH and I are asked lots of questions. Who are her friends, what names has she mentioned, what does DD enjoy to do at home, can she dress herself, do up her shoes, whats her favorite food, disliked food, does she have any allergies? (bit late for that question isnt it on day 5????!!!!!!) etc etc.

It then dawns on me I leave my child with strangers in a class of 30 other children everyday

Prior to this she has been with me and only a much loved nursery for 4 hours a wk.

Don't grill me please, yes I knew school would be hard for us both. But surely in this day and age with the things we read about young children god forbid, dont we as parents need to know our children are going somewhere to be protected and looked after?? Isn't there an easier way to break our (urm...ME and MY!) children into school?

fgs just wearing a stiff ironed shirt and a tie is a major thing for a little girl. every day. shes only used to princess dresses!!!!

Am I too overprotective with nothing else better to worry about?? DD has had 2 morning starter nsessions in june prior to starting school to 'familiarise' herself....PAH!!

I guess I need to know she is going somewhere everyday where she will be loved as much as me & DH love her....thats not going to happen is it What a sudden brick wall we have just hit

OP posts:
AMumInScotland · 11/09/2009 09:33

Of course she wont be loved the way you love her.

But she will be protected and looked after. The "strangers" you are leaving her with are people who choose to spend their time looking after and educating children, they have been trained and checked. They will look after her.

What they wont do though is wrap her in cotton wool as if she was still a baby - they will expect her to cope with not being the centre of their world, with having to wait, do as she is asked, get along with others, wait her turn.

She has reached an age and stage where that is what she needs from the people around her.

yes its scary for you, and possibly for her, but stretching her wings this way is a good thing. Being smothered and adored is not.

gagamama · 11/09/2009 09:43

No, the school won't ever love her like you do (nobody will) but I think they're doing a Good Thing by asking you thing about her likes and dislikes, her personality and her interests. Surely that in itself is allowing some of your love into the classroom?

Starting school isn't a process of wrenching your baby out of your arms and turning her into a little robot. It's a process of taking your child and stretching her and helping her stand gradually on her own two feet and become the little independent person she was meant to be.

curiositykilled · 11/09/2009 09:54

No-one will ever love your children like you do. It would be weird and wrong if they did.

Your school sounds like it is doing things to settle the children quite nicely, some school just through children straight into full-time school with no taster sessions and no individual meetings with the parents. Your school has had taster sessions, is doing half days and having meetings with the parents to help the children to settle in.

You are being way too, and a little a lot scarily over-protective but it is, and should be, a very emotional time for all parents when their children start school so don't worry too much. There is no need to worry so much and if you do you'll make your dd worry too.

The biggest thing you can give your children is independence. It is your job as a parent to teach them how to function as their own person in their own right. It really was your job to prepare your child for school and uniform e.t.c. like I said above, the school are doing their part.

Things parents can do to prepare their children for school depend on what the child needs so it would be impossible for a school to provide such individual care for a large number of children. My DS is sensitive, socially aware and had little self-confidence in new situations and with strangers.

I chose a very good nursery which he started the term after his 3rd birthday and which had similar hours to the school I wanted him to go to. I had to book him a place at this nursery when he was 18 months as it is very popular but when he went he went for free.

He went every weekday 1pm - 3.30pm, which gave him confidence as he finds routine comforting. They were a very good nursery and I had discussions with them at the beginning about working on his self-confidence, asking them to try and get him more confident in large groups and doing new things in front of people. They did a fantastic job with this.

I choose a smallish school. The school attached to the church which he attends every sunday. We worked on building relationships with the other children that go to the school and would be starting in his year and it has ended up that he is good friends with 2 children in his class, he is quite familiar with 10 children, he has only met the other 5 at the taster day and there is another class of 18 which he is largely unfamiliar with - I think this is a good mix of familiarity, friends and new social opportunities.

The school has had a taster session, a parents evening and is doing two weeks of half days (young half of the year in the mornings, older in the afternoons) to settle the children. My DS came home after 3 days saying he wants to do full days so he can have lunch with another boy he knows from year 1. I was and . I fully expect him to take this back and be tired and cross when he goes full-time but he would never have coped this well without the intensive preparation his nursery and I gave him for the last year.

His best friend however, didn't need anything at all. She was at home with mum and sister full-time before she started school (never been left with even a grandparent as her grandparents live 200 miles away) and is doing just as well as my DS because her personality allows her to take these things in her stride. Her family also go to church and are familiar with the building, the uniform and the school but she was happier being at home for 4 years and didn't really need much other than that. Both our children are may and june birthdays.

My dd will need very little. She'll go to the same nursery as ds for the same hours as I think the routine will be helpful and I will ask them to work on helping her to sit down and do things that other people require of her and recognise that other people need attention sometimes too but she'd be fine just thrown in the deep end at school like DS's friend.

I've not explained all this to be smug, I am trying to express that all children need to be prepared for school in different ways so it would be impossible to expect the school to do it rather than the parents. Basically, I think parents shouldn't expect the school to protect and prepare the children for school. It's the parent's job and how much work/strategic choice that involves completely depends on the child.

anniemac · 11/09/2009 10:00

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edam · 11/09/2009 10:05

Children need to go out into the world and build relationships with other people. None of whom will love them the same as you do. But some of them might become friends - including teachers (I loved ds's reception teacher, she was so warm and kind and wonderful). And one day they will be all grown up and might meet someone they will love dearly and you'll get grandchildren and all that.

curiositykilled · 11/09/2009 10:05

Lol! Can I change to what anniemac said?! lol Much more useful, supportive and less smug and judgy!

Nyx · 11/09/2009 10:09

Oh I liked that, anniemac, thank you

anniemac · 11/09/2009 10:12

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anniemac · 11/09/2009 10:13

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posieparker · 11/09/2009 10:13

Does a child need to be loved everywhere they go? Is this the curse of the only child?

I think you're OP is bizarre, what do you expect of this world for your child?

fircone · 11/09/2009 10:16

very thought-provoking, anniemac

OP: of course the school won't "love" your child, it would be weird if that did happen. And be sure not to sow the seeds of suspicion in your dc about people outside the family.. it is all too easy for children to pick up on adults' feelings.

On a practical note, I sent dd half days all Reception year. Didn't discuss it with the school, I just turned up every day at lunchtime, stood outside the classroom door and took her home. Worked very well. She made friends, got to learn the school routines etc, but as she is an August birthday and was/is horrendously shy she just wasn't ready to cope with a full day from September.

plimple · 11/09/2009 10:19

Oh yummy, did you and dh go to school? You dealt with it OK didn't you? She has you to come home to so all is fine. It isn't a teacher's job to love your child, they might do, they may be very fond, but will show equal fondness to all 30 children and a certain distance is needed to do their job of educating.
Cast your mind back to when you were her age and I'm sure you'll stop worrying.

Bucharest · 11/09/2009 10:22

anniemac- I love that.

OP- forget about you. How is your daughter dealing with school? Is she enjoying it?

Mine starts next Thursday, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ever so slightly bordering on hysterical about it. (not for the reasons you state, but because we're in Italy and my opinions on the system here have it rated on a par with the African Land Snail's ability to perform in a classroom) but dd doesn't know any of this. She's looking forward to it, looking forward so much to learning "stuff", looking forward to making new friends. So I take a deep breath and (try to) look at it from her point of view.

Also echo pps who say that it would be wrong if the teacher did love her as much as you do. We are the ones who are supposed to do the unconditional thing. The teachers help us to see the reality.

MIAonline · 11/09/2009 10:35

Yummyummy, don't beat yourself up for feeling like this. You love your DD and are at a major transition point in parenting. If the worse thing you do as a parent is to worry about how your DD will feel starting school and the people she is spending 5 days a week with, then you should be proud of yourself.

She will be fine, with time you will feel fine about it and will look back at this time with a small smile. There have been some good points made about how the love you have given her up to now will help her in this new phase in her life.

Bucharest · 11/09/2009 10:38

posieparker what the feck does being an only child have to do with anything? Don't parents of 2, 3 or more also love all their children in the way the OP describes?

ottersRus · 11/09/2009 10:39

Parenting is all about letting go. When they first stand up on their own and we first let them let go of our hand, we are starting off this long process of letting go, a little bit more every week, every month, every year, we let go a little bit more.

Starting school seems like a big thing but it's just one part of this process of letting go, which we do because we have to let go in order for them to grow and develop and fulfill their potential.

I think this is one of the main tasks of parenting, and that's why parenting is so hard sometimes.

Portofino · 11/09/2009 10:42

posie, you made an only child remark on my thread yesterday. Have you got a complex about it?

paisleyleaf · 11/09/2009 10:46

My DD's started this week to. But she's almost 5 and perhaps a bit more ready.
It's our job to prepare them as well as we can for this (or "break them into it" as you say).... Staying for lunch at preschool/going to playgroup/using toilet tissue/opening and closing their lunch etc.

I love that Kahlil Gibran's On Children.

loobylu3 · 11/09/2009 11:37

It seems that it is you having trouble adjusting to your DD starting school, rather than your daughter. Infact, you haven't mentioned her feelings at all. Starting school and pre school before that is part of the natural process of growing up. If you are feeling so anxious and negative about it, she will pick up on this and start to feel the same way. I'm sure you wouldn't want this to happen. The best thing is to be positive, encourage her to make friends, speak to her teachers and help her to adjust and fit in. She will always love you and your husband but she will be an adult herself one day and you need to help her with this very gradual process.
My son (my second child) has just started in yr R too and I feel so proud of him looking so grown up. He is a shy child but is loving school so far. I'm sure your daughter will love it too!

RumourOfAHurricane · 11/09/2009 11:44

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posieparker · 11/09/2009 20:51

Dunno.

SerendipitousHarlot · 11/09/2009 20:56

Wow, anniemac that was beautiful.

'There are only two things that every parent should give their child - roots, and wings'

No idea who wrote that, but I love it.

It's so hard letting go... but you have to do it a little bit more every day. Try not to think of it as the end of an era for you, more the beginning of a new chapter for your child.

Because, ultimately, it's about them, not you - hard to accept, I know.

scottishmummy · 11/09/2009 20:57

what a maudlin op.you overlook the opportunity to grow and have experience independent of mum and dad

you dont need anyone else to love dd as much as you. you do need other people to facilitate dd

personal growth
experiential learning
coping with let downs,bullies,unfairness
rejoicing in friends,laughs,freedom form mum and dad

you need to let go,don't fret, we are shaped by happiness and unhappiness

nickytwotimes · 11/09/2009 21:00

You are totally over thinking this, op.

SerendipitousHarlot · 11/09/2009 21:00

scottishmummy, I know you can be a bit ragy, but I do like your posts.