Separation Anxiety

I took my amazing children to preschool the other day. They are now going to preschool two days per week. They love it. They're doing great. Usually my husband takes them, but this day, I had that privilege. Really, they love it - I drop them off, they go straight to washing their hands and do not look back. They move to the various toys or the craft project of the day. They say hi to friends. I may write at some point about their progress there - we actually had parent conferences the other day. Yes - parent conferences! At a preschool!

I know how fortunate I am - I know there are lots of kids who have separation anxiety. Or who simply don't do well in a preschool/day care setting.

This is a prior post about my feelings about day care . It's from a few years back, but I feel pretty much the same way. I read this great post the other day on rational moms about going back to work after maternity leave.

Dropping my kids off, I still felt a twinge - not of guilt, perhaps of separation? Maybe it was just a moment to breathe instead of figuring out where the lunches were, whether or not my kids had their coats and hats on. Logically, it wasn't as if I would go back in and ask my kids to leave. They would have been very upset and disappointed. *I* would have been upset and disappointed. It would be ridiculous.

What's odd is that my twins are well into their three year old year. I thought this would be easier as they got older. I suppose this is yet another lesson that feelings are not logical.

I'm glad I didn't have to make the day care decision (as I mentioned in my post above). I respect how contentious that issue can be for many people. I will say, despite the brief separation anxiety I feel almost each time I leave my kids at preschool or even with friends...I always come back knowing it was the right decision. (Or at least, 99% of the time come back knowing that). I have time to myself, time to think. They almost always have a great time - playing with their friends, interacting with other adults (playing with new toys).

The butterflies usually go away by the time I'm in my car, trying to make a left turn out of the parking lot. It's still an odd feeling though.