Crying is Contagious

Today marks the fourth week of school for Sarah and Amanda. We had a few shaky days with Sarah, but she seems to be doing okay. She really likes the English days but unfortunately only two out of five are English and the rest are Spanish. On those days she is a little less willing to go to school and whines a bit more. Really, who wouldn't? It's hard, you have to think a lot more, and the day seems very long. I get yelled at a lot on Spanish days because the girls are tired and overwhelmed and I'm the one who left them there.

In Sarah's class, she's one of the only kids that cries. In Amanda's class, it's a different story entirely. There are very few kids that don't cry. It's understandable because it's the "young 2s" class, so most of them have just turned two and it's the first time they've been away from Mom for a significant period of time. I get that. However, it's the fourth week of school, you'd think they'd figure it out by now. All they've really figured out is that they are going to get left and they don't like it.

There are a few kids in Amanda's class that cry a lot. She can usually hold it together until we get to class, but when she sees those kids she starts freaking out and crying really hard. I feel so bad leaving her, but know it's good for her to be around kids her own age and want her to get that exposure to Spanish now rather than later. That's how it is with every kid. They are fine when they get to class and as soon as they see the other kids crying they think, "Hey, that kid's crying. I should probably be crying too." and it just gets louder and louder and worse and worse until the whole class is crying.

I like to blame one of the boys, because he cries hard and long. It's nice to blame somebody else's kid. However, I know it's not just him. In fact, today it was us. We came in about 10 minutes late and all the kids were sitting at the table. There were a few red eyes but nobody was crying when we walked into the room. Amanda started crying, and one by one all the other kids starting crying too. One kid wasn't quite crying, but he was still wearing his backpack as if he thought he would be able to leave at any moment. I felt so horrible for the teachers, who had probably just finally calmed all the others down, but they are pros.

The funny thing is, that class has an entirely different dynamic on Mondays and Wednesday. I know, because we walk by the class everyday as we take Sarah to her class. On M/W the kids are quiet and happy and doing the morning activity as we walk by. Nobody is crying or needs consoling, the whole room is calm. On the contrary, on T/Th Amanda's class is full of kids crying and trying to escape and they don't even have time to get the morning activity out. They are just in reactive mode.

It will be fine, they will adjust, the teachers will make it through. You can bet, however, that those teachers are going to get some very nice gifts at Christmas time.