Separation Anxiety

Today, we went to church as we often do on Sunday mornings. But things were a little chaotic because all of the kids were supposed to go to a new classroom. My daughter went to children's church for "big kids". My son graduated from the baby rooms, up to the toddler room...yeah! Although I thought it was neat he got to move to another room, he was not as equally as joyed. As I assumed would happen, he cried. I left some of his favorite snacks, which I saw them give to him as I left. This helped him quit crying immediately. When I came back, the teacher did let me know that every time a dark headed woman walked up to the door, he cried. I guess because I have dark hair, he got sad that it wasn't me, but could have been me because of the hair. As expected, he wasn't crying when I went to get him...until he saw my husband and I at the door! Then, he let us know how sad he was that we had dropped him off for 75 minutes. Although it is not exactly fun to hear all of the crying from the toddlers in the room, it does make me feel good that they are displaying a normal sign of development....separation anxiety! It is normal for a toddler who has bonded and attached to his parents to cry when they leave him. I am confident that in time he will grow to love his new teachers, friends, and toys within the classroom! I could look at his crying two different ways. I could look at it as annoying or a blessing. I choose to look at it as a blessing. Some of the toddlers I work with who have been in and out of foster homes or who have been recently adopted from a foreign orphanage do not have separation anxiety from their caregivers and now-parents because of every thing they've been through. I do know that when these children finally do display that sadness when parents leave them, the parents are more than elated...after all, what could be a bigger display of that child's love!