First Day at School Jitters...for parents or for the child?

My youngest, Zachary who is approaching 3 years will start school tomorrow. I think he will be in nursery class at Yio Chu kang Chapel.

My wife and I laid out his uniform comprising a yellow T-shirt and a grey shorts, picturing in our mind how cute he will be in his school uniform. At the same time, we are concerned (as we are never "worried" :-)) that he may developed the jitters and cry for us. The school allows my wife to be with him in class for the first 3 days but we have decided (for now at least) that he will "let go" from day 1. We are quite confident that he will do well. His "performance" the last 2 weeks has been great. He has become more sociable and independent, taking the initiative at playground and gatherings to go up to other children to get them to play with him. We hope school will be seen by him to be an extension of play - and therefore better coped.

Maybe, he will not have the first day of school jitters afterall - it's just the parents who don't know better :-)

Tonight, at about 10pm, I went into the children's room to say a prayer for all 3 of them. When I finished, Zachary called out to me "Papa, pray for me" as he wanted a personal prayer. I found my way to him in the darkness of the room, prayed that he will find favour with his teacher, have good friends, have fun in school and there will be divine protection for him. He ended the prayer with a loud "amen"!

In and of ourselves, we plan and hope of the best. After the prayer, my heart is now settled that Zachary will do well for his first day in school.