My littlest one is flying the coop

For a few weeks now, I have been seriously considering the idea of admitting Y into playschool. Granted, she is very young (only 20 months), but here were the reasons for and against.

Reasons for:

1. I need that most precious commodity - TIME. I have exams in May. I am supposed to put in a minimum of 4 hours of work everyday to even attempt my papers. However, at this point, if I work for an hour everyday, I consider myself lucky.

2. Y is bored at home. In the morning hours, Ads leaves for school, I am busy with household chores, cooking & studying. The maid is cleaning. Appa is asleep until 10 am and leaves for work around 2 pm. Y has no company and spends her time mooching around the house. Clearly she needs some stimulation, interesting activities, and social interaction.

3. There's a terrific playschool just around the corner. I visited them and was very impressed. They have a philosophy of "being at one with nature" - a sentiment highly appreciated and called-for in this concrete jungle! The school has an artificial pond with ducks and geese, a walk-in aviary, resident roosters, a fish-tank. The buildings are low-rise earth-friendly structures, there is no AC (only natural cooling), and when the Director told me "not to buy too many toys for your kids, just allow them to use everyday objects as rein for their imagination", I was floored! I suppose this is a classic case of supply creating demand!

Reasons against:

No logical reasons, just emotional ones, with the constant thread of mommy guilt running through them all. What if she's too young? What if she cries her heart out? What if this proves I am a bad mother? And so on. Fortunately I managed to check myself before I got too hysterically confused, and despite the negative comments I am already getting about my decision, we decided to go ahead. A few conversations with understanding and supportive girlfriends (who had been through the same thing) worked. Please note that even though the decision was jointly taken by me and S, I am supremely confident that if anyone gets the flak for it, it will be me and only me!

So, there it is. She started today. She will go from 9 am to noon, 5 days a week. Accounting for  the time I spend driving to, and spending at the school everyday, I get 2.5 hours to study in the mornings. Ads has also been consigned to the care of the school bus from today (he went quite happily), which saves me a cool 1.5 hours. 

The playschool expects a 7-10 day transition period for kids as young as Y, so today she was at the school (with me in attendance) only for an hour. For the next few days, we stay for no more than 2 hours, and gradually the time that I spend at the school with her is reduced until she has got over the "settling" phase and can separate from me without any fuss. A simple and sensible procedure that all schools should adopt, but don't.

I clicked a picture as we were leaving for the school this morning, and later realized how similar it was to the picture clicked on Ads' first day of school in September 2008. The same colour of outfit, the same blue Thomas backpack, and the same brave smile!

At the school this morning, Y was enthralled with the ducks, the "kakas" (birds), the stone statues of a lion, hippo and tortoise, and the colourful fish. The fingers are crossed, the heart is full, the feelings are bitter-sweet, and I already feel like my little girl has flown the nest.