School Update

This morning Will woke, quietly climbed out of his cot, lay his head on my lap and asked, “Mum can I go to school?”. He ate breakfast very fast and we left together on the back of a motorbike at 7.15am.

When we got there I introduced him to the toilets…the first time I had taken him to a pit loo! He seemed remarkably unperturbed as I demonstrated how to squat (clothed), saying he could definitely do that! Then as we walked towards the classroom and he realised I would be leaving soon he began to stall.

In the classroom his teacher Maitresse Renatha welcomed Will and he confidently hung his bag on a hook. Then he started to ask if he could come home with me. When I asked if he wanted to show his teacher the things he had packed in his bag, he animatedly opened it ready to pull out his paint set (which he couldn’t wait to use), to discover that yoghurt had spilt through absolutely everything! His face fell. His favourite food was lost and had coated all his newly prized possessions with white goop. Together, his teacher and I cleaned it up. She scrubbed his hat with soap and hung it on the picture string overhead. Then I thought it best to stay a little longer to help Will settle in. The kids all sat in a row on the mat, and Renatha called the roll. The kids then had their first French lesson of the day, taking turns to stand at the front and answer the question, ‘Comment tu t’appelle?” The girl before him was up, and Will was raring to have his turn. In response to the teacher’s question, he bit his fingernail silently. Then said loudly, “I’m biting my nail because I am.” I responded, and his teacher asked, “Can you understand what he says?”. At home tonight he climbed around the room practising happily “Je m’appelle William”.

As the class stood in a circle singing a song, I asked William to kiss me goodbye. He did, and burst into tears. But he kissed me. So I left.

Will’s head and his heart had different opinions about staying at school. Which would win? I hid in the library for a while, chatting to the kind teacher there. She went and spied for me, and returned to say that Will was crying intermittently. I left on the back of the motorbike. The teacher had my number.

I found the day very hard. Quite emotional, and good for remembering to trust God with what I hold dearest. The arrival of 12.30 was quite exciting. Tim and I went on separate motorbikes to collect Will and discover how the day had gone. I arrived first, and was met with a drained but still kind teacher and a little boy with a hoarse voice. “You were far away!” he stated accusingly. And he hadn’t got to use his precious paints; he had been so hoping to. “Did you like school Will?” His answer was firm, “No!”. I thought that was the end of it. Experiment over, at least for this year.

Tim arrived. The two thinkers put their heads together and analysed the day. “Was it good, a bit hard or very hard?” Will thought for a minute. Then said decisively, “A bit hard”. What?! Well I’m not sure I’m up for another emotional day like that, but the two of them are and they’re off to school together in the morning by common assent. I don’t understand myself, but Will is quite committed to the idea and has asked me to video him there. Tim has assured him that the first few days will be hard but it will get easier, and has taken this on board. I’m sure I couldn’t think my way through my emotions when I was two. Not sure I can now.