We’re having a bit of an awful phase right now. Liam is experiencing some pretty overwhelming separation anxiety right now, undoubtedly because of the addition to Kids Club to his weekly routine. I hope we pass through this phase soon, because it’s a killer, emotionally.
This past week, while better than the previous two weeks, was still pretty awful at Kids Club. Liam was fine up until we arrived at the front gate, at which point he started crying and saying he didn’t want to go. I hung around until his wailing subsided, and then hovered in the neighbourhood for another half hour or so. At 12 o’clock I picked him up, he threw himself into my arms, sobbing, “I had fun at kids club mumma’ (which he obviously didn’t). The teachers said that he cried less, but didn’t participate at all, just hung back and watched. The english-speaking staff member tried to wipe his runny nose, and he said “No, I’m waiting for mumma to do it.” When she pointed out that I wouldn’t be back for a long time, he recited: “Mumma’s going to a meeting, then she’s going to get me a chocolate egg, then she’s coming back at 12 o’clock”. Apparently he needed to keep reassuring himself of what would happen. Oh, I hope next week is better, but yesterday morning when he woke up, the first words out of his mouth were “I don’t want to go to kids club”.
*sigh* sometimes doing the best thing for your child is really hard. But I guess all you grandma’s and grandpa’s already know that….
But it’s making him super clingy and anxious now. Last night I had a girls’ night planned — just a couple of girlfriends for a nice glass of wine and dinner in a restaurant — a rare treat. But when Liam realized that mumma wouldn’t be home to feed him dinner, give him a bath, put him to bed, he got way too upset and worked himself up. Can’t tell you how hard it was to walk out that door, and hear that sobbing and crying. Daddy says that when he calmed down he went and lay down in his bed, saying he would wait for me to come home. But then a half hour later he was screaming and crying again. He ended up on the sofa, cuddled under a blanket, bleary eyed, watching a movie with daddy and “waiting for mumma”. He was fast asleep when I got home, but this whole behaviour is new for him. And exhausting for us.
Anyway, he’s had a lovely Mumma-Daddy-Liam weekend, and he’s a happy boy now.
Yesterday we took him down the seafront so he could ride his balance bike, as it was a really lovely day. We tossed some rocks, and then we took him to our favourite cafe for a hot chocolate and biscuit, and he impressed our waitress by placing his order in french. Bravo, mon amour!
Today we let Liam sleep in late (since he was up so late last night ‘waiting for mumma to come home’, and we took him to EcoParc in Mougins for a bit of a runabout in the playground, as some of our friends were planning on going too.
It was quite chilly in EcoParc because the sun went away, so we decided to check out the inside exhibition, which is generally geared for kids age 4 and up. This exhibition is space related, and Liam LOVED it. Rockets, space suits, satellites, planets! He got to make the robotic arm move, and drive a flight simulator. Plus they had tons of games in the play area for kids of all ages. It was a great afternoon, and then we headed back outside to the Eco-playpark just as his little friend Guiliana arrived. Perfect timing.
But for us, the highlight of the afternoon was when he stepped out of the little fort house, surveyed the rest of the playground, and said “What are all the frickin’ kids doing?” Whoops!! Where did he get that from (said mumma, guiltily) 🙁
Inching closer to his birthday… he’s quite excited, and sees all of his presents piling up in the closet. Every time the postman rings out buzzer he knows it’s something new for him!
Hope you’ve all had a great weekend too!
