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Between home and classrooms

First steps Tackling change in routine and schedules

It’s school time! Tiny tots are off to school and there is trepidation and excitement in the air. With brand new uniforms, school bags, books, pencils, raincoats and water bottles they look as if they are straight out of those television commercials!

Dad and mom are wary of preschool blues. They do not want banshee wails or hair raising shrieks on D-day. The Working couples want their kids to adjust swiftly to the new schedule. Preschool jitters are more for young couples than for the older ones as they have experience to bank on. Dr. Abraham says, “My wife and I are apprehensive if our daughter will fit into the school routine. It is such a hassle to wake her up in the mornings.” A.S. Ganapathy and Latha are uneasy with the thought whether their sprightly son Kartik would sit quietly in class.

Moms are more anxious than dads . Will he disclose to the teacher if he is ill, hungry or thirsty? Will she feel shy to tell her teacher she wants to go to the toilet? Mom’s worries are endless.

The strain is more on those moms who start working when her kid starts school. For she has to fit into her new work place as well as help her child to settle down at school. “Having it all is a tempting concept for us working moms,” says Divya Gopalakrishnan, an executive. It implies that we have a sense of accomplishment, independence, economic and personal well-being. But it comes with a tag. We are often perturbed because our little one is so dependent on us.”

Play school teachers Rekha Babu and Beena Rajesh feel that the misgivings of most parents are unfounded. Children who have not been part of a play group may have difficulty in adjusting at school. Others are used to being away from their parents for sometime, as well as learnt to take directions from a teacher. Some may crave for home or play school when the initial thrill of the new accessories wear off, or when they do not like writing. But they adjust easily.

UKG students adapt more easily for they are used to the schedules. Some are unsure when classes are shuffled or when they come from other schools for they miss their friends. But they are full of beans within a month.

Male chauvinism tends to take back seat, when kids are small and mom is working.

Hubbies become obliged to adjust and end up being more cooperative, patient and sensitive to his wife’s problems. The flip side is that they rave and rant about their sacrifices and adjustments in taking care of the kids, and how there is no appreciation from the spouse. Meera, a home maker says, “Time flies pretty fast. By the time cleaning, cooking and other chores are over it is time to fetch the little one from the bus stop. Still, I manage to squeeze in some time for my interests.”

Working couples tie up with day care centres for pickup and drop-in facility of their wards. Parents pack off their kids to the centre pretty early, from where they go to school and return. They come home late in the evenings with them, on their way back from work. This is a big strain on the kids, but the parents have no other alternative. If grand parents are in town, they pitch in help.

So as the kids take their first steps to school it is a time of adjustment both at home and at school.

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