Weird day...

[gothams3rdrobin]

Rowan started attending school full-time yesterday. He started off the first week and a half finishing at noon, then this week he stayed until two pm on Monday and Tuesday. I give thanks for the staff of his Nursery, as they were willing to keep him on the books a little longer so they could collect him for me on those days.

But now he's in till three thirty in the afternoon, and it's my job to collect him. I changed my shift to accomodate this a long time ago, so it's not a problem. However, I am very reliant on the public transport system and three pm is when things start to get shaky.

I got to the school in plenty of time yesterday, and Rowan and I shared a funny moment where he was waving at me through the door before the teachers started to let them all out. Hometime is like a cattle market, as they have to line all the kids up along the weelchair ramp according to class and make sure they see exactly who the children leave with. They have to know you, or they won't let the kid out of their sight - it's an understandable but very sad state of affairs. I was told years ago about the time my paternal grandfather came to collect me, when I was Rowan's age and we lived on Barry Island; my teacher was reluctant to let me go as she didn't know him, but she was soon reassured by my excited squeal of "Grampy!" when I saw him! *chuckles* That'd never happen now.

Today the traffic wasn't quite so much on my side, and I got to the school after they'd started to let the kids go. I had visions of Rowan approaching me all tearful, crying "You weren't here!" He ran up to me with a grin, thankfully, but I didn't get off lightly as he still hugged me tight and said "I missed you Mummy! You weren't here!"

Heh. Called it, didn't I?

So he was, unfortunately, a little unsettled by my not being there the second school let out. But thankfully he hadn't gotten himself worked up yet.

The evening got wierder though as, by the time we got home, we'd had two separate offers of play-dates for him. One from the mother of a little boy he knows from the Nursery, and we've talked on and off about the kids getting together anyway. The second came from the dad of a little girl who was on the same bus home, and had recognised us.

I'm really shy and insecure, especially around strangers, so this was uncomfortable but I hope I didn't show it. What struck me as even stranger was the fact that a little girl's dad was discussing a play-date with my son; maybe it's some internal prejudice I normally ignore, but I expected all Rowan's play dates to be with other boys.

Meh. *grins* A friend's a friend.

Comments

[catwalksalone]

*sings* Rowan's got a girlfriend, Rowan's got a girlfriend! *ducks*

It's cool that he's making friends, especially after you said he didn't seem to be showing much interest. And so what if she's a girl. She'll probably keep him in line. All boys need that, right? *g*

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

Heh *grins* I don't think its anything like that - they weren't especially interested in interacting while we waited for the bus.

I think he's starting to try and learn the names of the other kids in his class...his reluctance is strange, considering how enthusiastic he was about playing with 'his children' at the Nursery. And I don't have any problem with him going on play-date with the girls in his class - it's just really odd to be asked by a little girl's dad. *shrug*

[katyanicholovna.livejournal.com]

time/space. I have that same fear. Showing up late and having Nat be in tears because I wasn't there at dismissal. They do the same thing here. The teachers won't let them out until they can visual match a child with the designated pick-up person. It makes me feel more secure about the welfare of the kids in general but I have to agree. Sad commentary about the state of things. When I was a kid, we used to hang out outside until someone showed up to take us home.

A friend's a friend. Wholeheartedly agree. *big hugs to both you and the little man.* :D

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

I used to have to do that too - one time I had to wait for a while and I got worried so I headed for home on my own. Luckily we weren't livng all that far away from the school, though there were still a couple of major roads to cross.

I basically followed the route my Dad and I would take to school every morning, and got myself safely home. But there was no-one there and I had no key to let myself in so I got rather distressed *chuckles* Luckily our landlord and his wife lived right above us (they'd converted the ground floor of their three-storey house into a self-contained flat to rent out) and Mrs Phillips brought me inside and gave me a drink and some biscuits *grin*

I freaked my parents out that day, but I also proved I was capable of getting myself home from school.