So Mad!

I am so mad right now! Andrew starts Mom's Day Out (pre-school) tomorrow. He is attending it at the same place as last year. All eight children from last year's class were coming back again. Andrew has been talking all summer about his friends from last year. Mason is his best friend and the one he's missed the most. I got Andrew all excited about school starting again this year and how he would see all of his friends again. Andrew was in the Older 3's class last year, so it would stand to reason that he would be in the Older 4's class this year.

Oh no...we went to open house tonight. Andrew ran after all of his little buddies and their parents to their classroom...only for us to discover that Andrew was the only one NOT in that class. He has been placed in the Younger 4's this year. He knows not a single person in his class, and he is devestated. All he keeps saying is "I don't want to be in this classroom, where are my friends?" I put on the eternally positive momma face and told him that this would be fun and that he would love his teacher, blah, blah, blah. Truly, I could see that the child was confused about why all his friends were over there and he had to be over here. Almost like he was being punished.

Mike stayed with Andrew while I had myself a little chat with the director. She would not budge. I explained how Andrew doesn't even want to be in that class, and how disappointed I was that he wasn't with anyone he knew. Anne (director) explained that his teacher was "a better option than the other teacher for Andrew because of her teaching style" and that she breaks things down a little more slowly for the younger kids. (Mind you, some of Andrew's friends are younger than Andrew.) Anne was very firm in the fact that this was the best choice for Andrew and that she was not going to change it.

I am so mad, I can't even see straight. I truly feel like my kid has been labeled or set aside as 'different'. I try really hard not to be one of 'those' moms who can't see past their own kid's impulsive desires. But seriously, he's 4. This is a mom's day out. It's not a highly accredited private preschool. It does have a curriculum, but come on...it's a social program for crying out loud. At this age, familiarity is comforting and routine is important.

I plan to have more words with Anne again tomorrow. I'm sure she won't back down, but I really think she should know that we feel like they are singling our son out for some reason. Maybe I'm overreacting, but when I see my son crying and withdrawing from everyone, it kills me. It took him awhile to really connect with the kids from last year, so I hate for him to have to start all over again when he's a returning student.

Oh and Mason (Andrew's friend) was going to be enrolled in a different school this year, but his mom changed her mind last minute because of the bond he and Andrew had. She purposely kept him in this smaller program in part because of my son.