George hits third-week blues
Oh Prince William, I feel for you, I really do. Just like you, my 4-year-old skipped off happily on her first day of school a few weeks ago, eagerly posing for photographs in her shiny shoes.
Phew, I thought. That was easy. But three weeks in and the novelty has worn off.
So it came as some relief to know we’re not the only ones.
On a visit to Milton Keynes, the Prince told mother-of-two Louise Smith that George was fed up with going to school.
George had, we were told, settled in well and Prince William joked he was pleased he “wasn’t the one” parent having to deal with a reluctant child at the school gates.
Three weeks later? The blues have set in. As Louise Smith told reporters: “He told me he’d just dropped Prince George off at school and he didn’t want to go. Sounds a bit like mine, really.”
And like mine. It started on day four, when tiredness (and reality) kicked in. I had stopped making a fuss of her new uniform and reverted to my default routine of shouting at everybody to get ready.
“Where are we going today, Mummy?” she asks hopefully every morning. When I reply school, she looks aghast and says: “What, again?”
Another pal, with an older child, told me that he had to be peeled from her leg, sobbing, every morning for his entire first year. Thankfully Rosie isn’t that bad, but she has started dragging her feet and we’ve had a few tears at dropoff. Simply, she has become a school refusenik — and it sounds as though Prince George is feeling the same way.
“Starting school is harder for firstborns and summer babies,” says Dr Rebecca Chicot, child development expert and author of The Calm and Happy Toddler. “Prince George only turned 4 in July.”
She thinks that starting school might be smoother for Princess Charlotte and their unborn youngest sibling. “My youngest found it easier, as the school run had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember,” she says.
“However, all children become very tired in their first term.
“Don’t allow screens for two hours before bed, give them a bath and choose bedtime stories that wind them down.
“Secondly, don’t be tempted to over-schedule in the first term. Limit play dates and clubs, and allow them to decompress after school. It’s important they learn about boredom — it helps their imagination and teaches them what to do when nothing is happening, so don’t [fear] downtime.”
Chicot also recommends checking your own “thirdweek blues”.
“There’s a lot to ‘get right’ when your child starts school. [And] children in the UK start school earlier than several other countries, and have earlier expectations of numeracy, literacy, and homework.
“Children absorb our stress, so it’s important to let worries about academic ability wash over you. My daughter was slow to read in reception but is now excellent. You know your child better than anybody, and if you feel a trip to the park . . . is more important than homework, have the confidence to explain that to their teacher. Children learn best at their own rate and when they’re happy.”
Another trick Chicot suggests is to adopt a “growth mindset”.
“When a toddler keeps trying to walk, falls down and gets back up again, we praise them for trying. Do the same with your 4-year-old — if they cry at drop-off . . . keep praising their perseverance, rather than telling them they have to go and that’s that.”
Lastly, she says that parents must accept the highs and lows of school life. “We can’t take away all the pressures our children will face, but we can . . . support them through it.”