A Bit of My Own Advice

This week, my son moved up a classroom at his daycare and he's been struggling to cope with the change. He refuses to let me put him down in the new room or take off his backpack, and he runs out the door back to his old room. 

This morning, I sat down with him in the hallway and said, "You miss that room, huh? You had some really fun times there with your nice teacher, and your friends, and the fun toys, and you're sad you can't go back. That's really hard, huh? I know that's really hard. It's ok to feel sad that your time there is over. That room was really special to you. Mommy feels sad too sometimes that she can't go back to places that were special to her.

"But you still need to grow and learn, so it's time for you to go to this room. This is your room now because you're getting bigger and you need different things now to help you grow. I promise that you will have fun in this room, too. You will make wonderful new memories in this room with your new teacher, your friends, and the fun toys here, and that doesn't mean your time in the old room is an less special. Would you like to look at the old room? Say, 'Thank you, room. Thank you for the good times and memories.' Do you want to blow the room a kiss and wave bye bye?"

I felt my voice catch in the middle of that. 🥹 It's hard sometimes to model good emotional regulation for a toddler all the time when I have so many feelings of my own. 

My parents are preparing to sell my childhood home, and I put off processing my feelings about it for almost a year. I went there a few weeks ago to help sort through the contents of my old furniture and just be in that space again before it's gone, but it's still hard. I feel sad about it, and that's ok.

So thank you, room. Thank you, house. Thank you, neighborhood. Thanks for the good times and memories. I'll never forget you.