"My First Day in New Academic Session"

April 4, 2016

Today, while going to school, my mom said that I have grown one class high, from nursery class to kindergarten class. She said I will have a new class, a new ma'am and lots of new friends. I looked at my mom carefully. Her smile was so big that even her pale teeth were visible. I started wondering what my new class would look like? How big it would be? What would be the colour of the walls? Mom mentioned about a new teacher and I wondered what went wrong with my old teacher? Did her tummy hurt so badly that she could no longer teach? Did I do something that upset her and she is no longer my teacher? My mom mentioned about new friends and I became confused.  I am still confused because how can I be friends with a bunch of people I don't know? Will they share their seat with me? Will they share lunch with me? Will they play with me? Will they laugh at me and make fun of me because I do not like to talk much?

All these thoughts added to my worry and made me cranky! When I reached school, I was still okay because my mom was with me. I held her hand tight and I did not want her to leave me in this new, strange yet familiar environment.  When I entered my new class, it was different than my old one and I was not comfortable. This made me really sad! When I met my new teacher, I recognized her. She is Ms. Avril. She helped me last year in annual day function. She talks very loud and loud noises hurt my ears. They make me more anxious. When my new teacher introduced me to the new people of my age, my mom let go of my hand and whispered “Hi” in my ears.. I remembered to say “Hi” aloud. A few of the other kids said “Hi” back, but they didn't smile. This made me more sad. I started to cry when my mom said that it was her time to leave, that it is my school time and she will pick me after the circle time. I started to cry harder. My mom said to Ms. Avril that I have ‘generalisation difficulty’ and I will take time to adjust in the new class. She gave me a flying kiss from the door and waved goodbye. I cried more. I cried and cried till the time my nosies were pouring out.

Ms. Avril gave me some toys to play with but I had no idea how to play with them so I did what I always do with stuff:  I just turned them over and over and watched the light bounce off the shiny surfaces. Then I got bored. And I remembered that I am now in a new class. This made me sad all over again because I was missing my friends, old classroom and old teacher. This time I cry louder, I howled and shouted. Ms. Avril thought that this was tantrum because I wanted a particular toy. She firmly said that she knew I was throwing a tantrum to get attention and get what I wanted and she wasn’t liking my behavior. I carefully looked at her and sobbed all the time because she just didn’t realize how badly I am missing the usual things that I used to do with my friends and old teacher. She couldn’t see my sadness.