Goodbye to Shining Stars

Some of you expressed an interest in Jimi's experiences at Shining Stars nursery school and my trauma at having to drop him off there with his outward tears and my inward tears. He also cried hard when "Grandma Carol" (Victoria's Mom) dropped him off; one day she even stayed the whole four hours with him. I once stayed two hours with him.

Did I tell you that one day the school called me and said that he had been crying so hard that he vommited?

We tried everything that we could to get him to adapt, for instance, explaining to him repeatedly who was going to drop him off and who was going to pick him up. I even bought him a book about a mother pig who keeps reminding baby pig that no matter if he is at home with her or away from her, Mother Pig loves baby pig all day long. On the back of the cover, human beings, not pigs, recommended this book for youngsters first going to nursery school or kindergarden.

We pointed out the neat projects that he would be doing at school, being with his friends, running in the gymnasium, learning his letters, his numbers, and his shapes, singing to Baby Jesus, eating cool lunches carefully purchased to satisfy the gourmet longings of a 27-month old.

To each of this mental nudges, he would smile and nod his head in agreement. Then we would say, "So, are you going to Shining Stars tomorrow?" and he would say, "Don't tell me that."

The grandparents and his Dad and everyone else who knows Jimi realizes how smart he is (one day the teacher asked who had to go to the potty and he raised his hand and went--the very first time he has done that) and how much he could benefit from the education and socializing with the other little rugrats. But he seems oh so miserable with his crying, reaching out to us, and pleading not to be left at Shining Stars.

I just can't leave him there in that state of mind, I just don't have the maturity I guess to seemingly traumatize one of my Favorite people in the world. As the first President George Bush said on more than one occasion, "Can't do it. Won't do it. Read my lips." That's my dropping off Jimi at nursery school policy for right now.

And did you know that even though I am not the only one who has dropped him off there, I am the only one that he "tells on."

"Grandpa left me," he says, shaking his head mildly with toddler regret.

That vision of toddler trust betrayed wakes me up from peaceful dreams at night, saying "no, no Shining Stars; go to another galaxy. Forgive me Jimi for I knew not what I was doing.

Oh yeah, BTW, Jimi's teacher Miss Jannell had to quit Shining Stars too. Her kids at home and other home projects and teaching became too much for her daily schedule. I wonder if Miss Jannell cried when her grandfather dropped her off at school before she quit?