Mommy Mondays: The Kids Are Okay

I think the kids are doing okay. After six months apart from Daddy, a major move in the middle of the school year, and transitions to new schools, new teachers, and new friends in a new (and big) city where the majority of people speak a new (to them) language…the kids seem to be handling all of this change all right.

How do I know? I had the following exchange with my 7-year-old son (“J”) this morning. It’s Monday afternoon and I have just returned from a weekend-long trip out-of-town. My son hasn’t seen me since I dropped him off at school Friday morning. He had left his backpack at home, so I was bringing it to his school. After checking, I stood in the main office, holding his backpack, waiting for him to open the door.

I see J open the door and walk through. I flash a wide grin.

J looks at me, confused as if to say “What are you doing here?”

J grabs the backpack when I hand it to him, says “thank you for bringing my backpack,”, then turns to walk out the door.

I call out to the back of his head, “Hold it! I haven’t seen you since Friday! Where’s my hug?”

J turns, smiles sheepishly, gives me a quick hug, then heads out the door with his friends back to his classroom.

As he walked away, I simply smiled. I smiled because that brief 1-minute exchange confirmed to me that my son feels comfortable and confident in his new surroundings.

It also reinforced how little moments like these can be important indicators of how those we love—those whose behaviors we are attuned to (whether consciously or not)—are actually doing.

Tagged as: child development, children, transitions