Star of the Week!
About 3 weeks ago, all the Toy Story movies came on TV and Scott taped them for movie night options for the kids. Well, Alex has seen the third one, but never the first, and he was super excited about giving it a whirl one morning after the kids had left for school. Well, fast forward almost halfway through the movie, and he got FREAKED OUT by Sid the scary neighbor kid and we had to turn the movie off right then and there. Ever since then, his fear and anxiety has been through the roof. We're talking he freaks out about being alone, he freaks out when I'm not on the same floor (and sometimes even room) with him, he freaks out about having to go to the gym's Kids Klub, and he's been freaking out about having to go to school. I can't even go to the bathroom or get dressed without him needing to be RIGHT THERE in the same room with me. Which, with him being FOUR years old, is bordering on a little creepy. Hahahaha.
Buddy the Bear! An added perk of being Star of the Week. :)
It has also resulted in bedtime issues for him. Which is super ironic considering Jane has now been sleeping mostly through the night for the last couple of weeks. Alex has now taken her place, with waking up multiple times a night and needing someone to come and snuggle with him because he's too scared to be by himself. I made the Toy Story connection during one of these middle of the night bonding sessions when he started crying after saying he was scared his toys were going to come alive. And that there might be monsters in his room if I left. Then it came out that he's terrified of going to the Kids Klub because he thinks Toy Story is going to come on the TV there. So that's fun.
For the next several days, I tried to brainwash the mantra into him that "Monsters are not real. Toys do NOT come alive. It is ALL pretend." But I wouldn't say it's solved the problems completely. Thankfully, though, he has made it two nights in a row now without waking me up, AND being Star of the Week at preschool has REALLY helped to turn things around with him at drop off. No more tears!! Yay!!! I'm a little concerned that once his reign is over this week, we'll regress back to crying every time I bring him to school, but hopefully, this week has shown him that preschool IS fun and that he DOES have friends to play with.
Show and Tell! Lex Luthor was his first share from home. He's been able to bring something in every day to show while he's Star of the Week.
I'm REALLY hoping this extreme separation {from ME} anxiety will not last much longer. But part of me is a little worried that with the coming of a new baby -- and thus lots of CHANGE -- it will only get worse...
Wish us luck!!!
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