On Friday, little Ivie Watts could barely stand still, her new black shoes broken in with eager shuffling as she contemplated her first day at big school.
“Are you excited?” her mother, The Modern Mumma blogger Mel asked from behind the camera. “Yes!”
Fast-forward to Tuesday, and it’s a whole different story.
In a tearful video shared to social media this afternoon, the mother of four from NSW’s Central Coast spoke about grappling with Ivie’s sudden change of heart about kindergarten.
“We’ve hit that stage at kindy now that she doesn’t want to go, and it makes it hard as a parent saying that ‘you have to go’,” the former nurse said. “And it’s only day two of the week.”
“She said to me this morning that she wanted to stay home because she misses me. I said to her, ‘Go to school. You’ll be fine. I’ll pick you up this afternoon.’ And then she held on to me as I was walking away, and she was crying.”
The thought of leaving her little girl upset proved too much. Watts waited until she got to the car, then broke down.
Listen for the ultimate back-to-school bootcamp. (Post continues below.)
Watts said though she at first felt like she was “being ridiculous” for her emotional reaction, she posted the video to let other parents know it’s okay to feel that way.
“There’s nothing wrong with you if you get upset about [leaving your child crying]. I get upset if my kids get upset, especially over something that I’m making them do,” she said.
The plan? Slot her mother-in-law into the drop-off roster.
“I feel as though [Ivie would] feed off my energy, and if I’m already anxious I’ll just make it worse. I know how my mind works and I know how my anxiety can become completely controlling so I’m going to break the cycle.
“School is bloody hard.”
We hear you, sister. The tests never really stop.
Does Motherhood Define or Redefine You?
This Glorious Mess