ADVICE RATING |
 4.75 (Highly recommend) from 36 votes (526 Visits) |
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Take a Little Comfort |
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by tracey  (October 2006) (rank 6th) |
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Going to daycare or preschool for a young child is a big step into the world of the unknown. It can be difficult for both parent and child in the early stages of this kind of separation. In my case, my daughter is still weepy when I drop her off
at school and it’s been almost 2 months. Who knew? On particularly tough days she seeks solace from the “comfort necklace” I made for her. It’s a simple heart shaped piece of laminated cardstock that I decorated with a photo of our family on one side a little love note on the other. It’s designed for her to hang around her neck (I used a lanyard with a clip on the end to hang it from) when she wants to keep us close.
When my oldest daughter began her preschool career I made one for her as well. She wore it everyday for almost the entire year. She even wore it when she went to babysitters or sleepovers with her grandparents. I loved that she could carry a piece of her father and I as she forged her own independence (albeit sometimes reluctant forging). When she would get nervous, she’d reach for it, stroke it, and gaze at it as a reminder that she was not alone and we were always with her in her heart.
I hadn’t originally planned on making one for my youngest daughter. She acted as if she wouldn’t miss us one bit when she started school. But a week before her first day of school I began to feel the aching of our impending separation and decided to make one for her anyway; despite her super-confident attitude. As I tenderly cut out the paper heart and meticulously chose the photo and message for her necklace I realized that I was really making it for me more than for her. It felt good for me to give her something familiar, something that said, “You are loved” and that she would be reminded of that every time she looked at it.
It is true that my youngest hasn’t attached herself to her necklace quite as desperately as her sister did, but she still knows it’s tucked in her backpack, even when she doesn’t choose to wear it. It’s something very special and important to her. And on occasion when I pick her up from school and she’s got it draped around her neck, I know that a little piece of me was there for her when she needed it.
