Saying Goodbye

Lately Evan has been having difficulties when we leave him at school. He has been crying a lot and often will try to follow me out of his classroom. We have been working with him over these last several weeks trying to encourage him and build his confidence so that these mornings will not be so hard. We have seen great improvements and now he only cries one day a week (which happens to always be a Tuesday - I'll have to figure that one out later).

So, this morning I was hoping for a tear free morning, since it is Wednesday - show and tell day -one of his favorite days of the week. Sure enough Evan walked into the classroom and was instantly greeted by his classmates who were all excited about the new heart shaped name tags on their desks. Evan also noted that there were taped off squares on the carpet indicating new toy play areas that were going to be enforced that day. So much excitement for a 4 year old!

Instantly, Evan was off playing with his friends without much of a goodbye for me. I found myself at the doorway trying to get Evan's attention. I'm calling out his name and waving to him from across the room like some deranged fan. He waves back and happily says "Goodbye Mom! Have a good day!" and is off again playing.

I thought for sure he would run over to me and beg me to stay. I start thinking to myself why isn't he chasing after me, he should be wrapped around my ankle by now. I found myself wanting to linger. I wanted to go in back in the classroom and give him another hug and kiss. I was wanting to act just like Evan had been for the last couple of months and cry. But I didn't. Oh how quickly the roles can reverse! I finally left school happy that my son was not crying and admittedly a little sad that he could have cared less that I was leaving. Tomorrow we'll see if both of us can get on the same page :)