Preschool Closed Unexpectedly

Due to budget cuts T's preschool was closed. CLOSED! It was state funded as a part of the local technical college, and apparently the governor cut their budget so they cut the preschool completely out because it was not making money. I have to admit we were as stunned as the teachers of the school were by the news. I mean, this was not some local daycare run by the neighbors, this was a full functioning child development center that is a part of the school and was used to train teachers for their certifications in early childhood education. 

As parents, we loved this school. When you are looking for a school for your three year old you have a lot of fears. There always seem to be news reports about some child being abused in a daycare, or nanny cam videos of baby sitters or nannys mistreating kids. Anytime that T is not with someone in our immediate family I am paranoid. Does that make me over protective? I'm not sure, but if I could I would never let him out of my sight. That not being practical, the technical college was the next best thing. They made us feel comfortable. They had two way mirrors on the walls of all classrooms so that us nervous parents could stand and watch without being seen. We could go in at any time and peek in on the classroom with no one knowing, and see what was happening. 

I could see not only what the teachers were doing, but also how T was relating to the teachers and the other students. It made us feel more relaxed that he was adjusting well to the class, and that he was being treated well. But now, they went and closed it on us, forcing us to find another school and start over. 

L did a great job researching our options for a new school. None of which really compares to where he was going as far as I am concerned, but out of necessity he has to go to school somewhere since we both need to work for us to survive. We made a choice and enrolled T.

This new school seems to be OK, but really, how do we know? We send him there and thoroughly quiz him when he gets home about his day, his teachers, and his friends and hope that nothing comes out that makes us regret our decision. I just wonder how accurate of a method that is when your child has a great imagination? For example:

T comes into the living room and tells me,"Tigger is all wet." Tigger is his stuffed animal.

"How did Tigger get all wet?", I asked.

"A big wave came out of the ceiling and went SPLASH all over him and made him all wet.", he tells me in all seriousness.

I tried to get more clarification on that to see if maybe the wave came from the bathroom sink, or toilet, since he just used the restroom. He stuck to his story about the ceiling. We washed Tigger anyway, just in case. 

It is even more difficult to send him to school, when dropping him off is heart wrenching. I took him there Friday, and going into the school was fine, but he never left my side while I was in there. When I needed to leave he was screaming,"No daddy, don't leave me here! Don't go!" If L had not taken him the day before and came back with a similar report I would have taken him right back home with me. But when L picked him up after school yesterday he was all happy and had a great day. I was worried anyway and asked L to pick him up early today just in case he was having a bad day. When she got there he was playing and again, having a good time. He even had a friend that he was playing with. 

I asked him today,"T, do you like school?"

"Yes."

"What is your favorite thing about school?" I ask. 

"Playing." he says. 

"What is your favorite thing to play?" 

"Fire trucks" he tells me. 

"Is there anything you don't like about school?" I ask wondeing if pandora's box may open and make me regret asking.

"Yes" 

"What don't you like?"

"I don't like when you leave, it makes me sad."

Sounds normal to me. He had this same type of problem at the other school from time to time. It just didn't seem so bad in the morning. I am hoping though it is the same type of thing. He is just having some attachment issues because it is very stressful going to a new school. It is a big change for someone who is only three years old. Since it took him a while to get used to his old school, I guess it will take a while for him and us as well to get used to the new school. I just can't help but wonder, if our country wasn't spending billions of dollars a day in Iraq would our economy be better and the budget cut would not have to have happened.