BACK TO SCHOOL BLUES

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Children's Pages

February 2001

BACK TO SCHOOL BLUES

Mrs. Anne Groenenboom
Anne is a retired school teacher from Cobden (Vic)

It was Carla’s first day at “big” school and she was up before 6 am. She had been looking forward to this day, but the rest of the family was still asleep and Carla was anxious to get going. She couldn’t understand why everyone else wasn’t as excited as she was. Mum groaned when Carla woke her up. She told her to go back to bed.

“I can’t!” Carla protested. “I don’t want to be late on my first day at school!“ She stomped off up the hall, waking everyone except Dad. Joel stood up in his cot, shaking the bars and calling “Mum! Mum! Mum!” at the top of his voice. Dad turned over, still half asleep and asked Mum what all the noise was about.

“It’s not my fault,” Mum replied. “Carla thinks she’ll be late for school if we don’t start getting ready now.” Mum climbed out of bed, picked up Joel and carried him out to the kitchen. Carla was already there, dressed in her school dress and waiting for breakfast. Chris and Amy came in, giggling at their little sister’s excitement.

“Just imagine anyone being excited about going back to school!” Chris commented.

“You were just as excited when you started school,” Mum reminded him. “It’s a very special day for a little kid, you know.”

“I’m not a little kid any more, I’m a big kid now!” Carla told them.

Carla wriggled impatiently after breakfast, while Dad prayed for the children as they started their new school year. At last it was time to go and Carla chattered non-stop as Mum drove them to school. Chris and Amy hurried off to find their friends while Mum took Carla to her classroom. Some of the little kids were crying already because they didn’t want to leave their mums, but Carla wasn’t upset at all. Some of the mothers looked as if they wanted to cry too. “You can go now, I’ll be OK,” she told Mum as she kissed her goodbye.

That afternoon, when Mum went back to school to collect Carla, she was surprised to see Carla standing near her classroom door, looking very miserable indeed.

“What’s the matter?” she asked Carla and the little girl burst into tears.

“I don’t want to go to school any more. Please let me stay home with you from now on,” Carla pleaded.

But what’s wrong?” Mum asked and Carla sobbed out her answer.

“I don’t like school! Some big kids in Year 2 are picking on me and my drink bottle leaked all over my bag... and I sat on my lunch... and my feet are sore... and I haven’t learned to read yet...!”

Mum hurried in to see Carla’s teacher, but Mrs Dougan said Carla had been fine all day. It was true that some children had been picking on the little ones, but that had been dealt with and Carla’s lunch certainly had been ruined, but some other children had shared with her, so she didn’t go hungry. Mrs Dougan remarked that it had been a very hot day and Carla was probably tired. Mum looked at Carla who was now busily reading a book to Joel.

“There doesn’t seem to be much wrong with her now. She’ll probably be all right when she has a rest,“ Mum commented and the teacher nodded.

By the time they reached the car park, Carla was chattering cheerfully. Chris and Amy were waiting near the car, so Carla had lots to tell them and Mum was relieved that she didn’t start crying again. When they got home the first thing Carla did was to take her school shoes off, then there was more wailing because there was a big red blister on each of her heels. Mum promised that Carla could wear her sandals the next day and Amy found some colourful bandaids for her blisters and that made her happy once more.

Chris was grumbling because his feet hurt too, but when Amy offered him some bandaids, he told her he wasn’t going to wear any “little kid stuff”. He told Mum that his new teacher was very mean. He wouldn’t let them have any fun and he expected them to do lots of homework every night.

“Maybe you just have to get used to your teacher he has to get to know you... and that might take a few days,“ Mum remarked. “Just do your best and see how things go.” She turned to Amy. “And how was your day, Amy? Do you have a new teacher too?” she asked.

Amy nodded. “It’s the first time I’ve had a man teacher and it’s a bit scary, but he says some funny things sometimes. The worst thing is that my friend Melanie wasn’t at school and I had to sit next to Robbie Green. That was horrible because he giggled every time I got something wrong and he blamed me when the teacher told him to stop talking.”

Maybe you can ask the teacher to let you sit somewhere else,” Mum suggested. “Why don’t you phone Melanie and see why she wasn’t at school.”

Amy hurried to the phone and she discovered that Melanie wasn’t at school because she hurt her ankle and had to have it x-rayed. Melanie would be back at school next day, so Amy was happy.

When Dad came home from work he listened to everyone’s sad story, then he asked Mum whether she had a good day. They were all surprised at her reply.

“Not really! First, Joel spilt his milk all over the kitchen floor, then he wouldn’t have his morning sleep and he was really grumpy when I had to wake him up to go back to the school. He was miserable because there was nobody here for him to play with... and I was miserable too, because I missed you all. We’ve had lots of good times together during the holidays, but now we’ve got to get used to things being different.”

“That’s right,“ Dad remarked. “We’ve had a great time these holidays, but we can’t expect good things all the time. It’s part of growing up, learning to cope with new situations, just as you children did today. We prayed this morning that you’d have a good start to the year and maybe things were not as good as you’d like them... but today is only the first day. If you make up your minds to cope, things will get better.”

“But how do we learn to cope?” Chris wanted to know.

“Well, God has promised that he will go with you every step of the way, so you can ask him to help you. That’s a good way to start,” Mum replied. “As long as you take care to be polite and do as you’re told, then your teacher will begin to know you and appreciate you and things will get better. The Bible tells us to be cheerful in all circumstances, even when it’s hot and our feet hurt. I guess I forgot that today, too.”

The next morning, Mum heaved a sigh of relief as she bundled the children into the car. She thought Carla might make a fuss about going to school, but the little girl seemed quite happy and Chris and Amy hadn’t complained either. The weather was much cooler too. Hopefully today would be a good day.

“Mum, may I go to my classroom all by myself?” Carla asked as she got out of the car.

“You certainly can,” Mum replied. “I hope you all have a great day,” she called to the three children as they hurried off down the path together.

That afternoon, when Mum arrived at Carla’s classroom, she was relieved to see Carla singing to herself as she tidied up the bookshelf. Mrs Dougan smiled at Mum and said there had been no troubles at all, that day. Carla sang happily all the way to the car park and Mum was pleased to see that the older children looked much happier today, too. Chris had already decided that his new teacher wasn’t so bad, after all and Amy was happy because she was sitting with Melanie. On the way home she told them all the funny stories her teacher had told the class during the day. Once they were home, Mum noticed that Chris was very eager to start his homework. Hopefully everything would be all right from now on.

Later that evening, Dad said a prayer of thanks that the children had enjoyed their second day at school much better than the previous day. He read to them from Colossians 3:17 and explained what this meant for them in their new situations at school.

SOME THINGS TO DO:

1. If things aren’t going so well for you at present, pray that the Lord will help you. Remember that he goes with you every step of the way and that he hears your prayers. Remember also to give thanks to him if things are going OK.

2. Read Colossians 3:17 with your parents. Make a list of ways you can improve things for yourself. Perhaps you need to change your attitude. Talk this over with your parents. You could even try talking it over with your teacher.

3. Look around you and see if anyone else needs some help and encouragement.

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