The First Day Disaster
One of my earliest childhood memories is my very first day at Pre-School when I was 4 years old. I grew up in a large extended family, so while I hadn’t spent a lot of time away from my Mum before, it was always with a familiar family member up until today. The first day came along and I was so excited! I had a special dress ready for the first day, got up super early in anticipation and just couldn’t wait to get there!
My Mum dropped me off and I waved and ran off to play straight after our goodbyes with not a worry or a tear to be seen. My Mum thoroughly explained she would be back at 3pm to pick me up. Now at this point I should mention that my Mum was also 40 weeks pregnant with my younger sister… so you can kind of guess where the story is going here!
3pm rolled around and I was waiting in anticipation at the gate when it walked my Aunty Trina and my cousin Andrew….. Where was my Mum? From that moment onward my little life as I knew it was completely turned upside down. My Mum was away in hospital for a few days, and what was this smelly screaming squishy bundle doing here!? In my 4 year old mind I rationalised what must have caused all these changes and upset…. Pre-School! If I hadn’t gone to Pre-School that day none of this would have happened right?
The next week arrived and it was time to go back to the dreaded Pre-School, and let me tell you I was not having any of it. That morning at drop off, and for months after that I screamed and cried and tantrumed like you would not believe all because of that experience of my first day. All I could think was that my Mum was not coming back to collect me, or that I would come home to yet another screaming baby every time I went to school. Imagine the guilt my poor Mum was experiencing!
But everything in life can be used as a learning experience, so almost 30 years later let’s all learn from it together! Because of this experience, whenever a new student comes in for her very first day of Ballet I make it my personal mission to make sure her first day is nothing short of perfect. I make sure it is magical, and I make sure it is memorable for all the right reasons, because I know first hand that the very first day will set the tone for a long time to come!