Clowning around on a School Day
It's Friday morning and my Kindergartner is not at school. It's not a Holiday. It's not Teacher Work Day or even a Sick Day. It's Clown Day at our Elementary. The Principle promised the upper grade children if they reached a certain goal for AR test points he would come to school dressed up as a clown. Wonderful concept, great motivator, kids were ALL over that. They not only reached their goal, but surpassed it without looking back. Great Job!
My son had nothing to do with that though. He doesn't do AR yet. As proud as I am of our school, my tears came flowing down when my son came home from school anxious, teary-eyed, and a bit nervous.
Zach: Mom, Can I skip school on Friday?
Me: No honey, you can't. School is almost out.. just a couple of weeks.
Zach: I can't! I can't go to school. I'm scared of the clowns!
I wrote his teacher a note to see if maybe there was a way for her to just keep him away from the Principle as much as possible. She said she would do her best and empathized with him because, she too, was scared of clowns. I mean, who isn't? Have you SEEN Stephen King's It
As a mother, I want to protect him, but at the same time I need to teach him to take things lightly, laugh a little, take chances, and know that God knows his fears and will take him in His arms each and every time they creep up. I encouraged him to go to school today to no avail. His cries and emotions were too much for this Momma.
What would you do? As a Momma, would you send your child to school? Let me know. Please. It was a tough call for me, but, in my honest opinion, one that needed to be made.......................................... or did it?
We're off to "clown around" at the library!
i think you did the right thing. my son is finally over this fear, i'm happy that i didn't force him ...i think it just would have made matters worse! I think you are a wonderful momma...enjoy your weekend!
I would have made the same choice that you did. No need to encourage nightmares...the teacher won't be there every night to take care of that, will she!?!? :)
Good job, mama!
Boy, that's a tough call. If he is that afraid of them, easing him in would be much better. My son-in-law use to be afraid of clowns. Not fun. Good luck to you.
That's a hard one because you don't want to send the wrong message about it being okay to miss school. On the other hand, it sounds like this is a big fear and I'm not so sure what I would have done. I'm a working mom so I probably would have talked to mine and tried to calm her nerves then send her to school and pray she made it through the day - plus that might help her get over her fear. But if I was a stay at home mom I don't know that I wouldn't have made the same decision you did.
Here's what it boils down to though....you are his mom and you know better than any of us about the best choice for your child. That you thought about it and agonized over this decision tells me that it was the best one you could make - given the circumstances. AND it sounds like you still had a constructive day.