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Home › Articles › Preschool Prep › Preschool Prep Series

Preschool Prep Series

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

By Tara Swords

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"I have this very clear memory of when my daughter was 3," remembers Karen Diamond. "I don't know what it was about that day. I took her into school and she just started screaming. The teacher held her and she was standing in the window screaming as I drove away. I called her five minutes later from work and she was fine."

Preschool Prep Series It's a universal scene in a timeless play. And every fall, it is acted out in preschools everywhere, as Mom walks out the door and leaves Child in a strange new place teeming with unfamiliar faces.

That's usually the moment when terror bursts forth in a crash of piercing shrieks and heavy tears. But don't worry, Mom, you'll soon feel better.

So, Who's More Traumatized?
Perhaps it's an exaggeration to say that mothers react as intensely to the separation as do their children. But as any mother will admit, a child's pain is a mother's pain. And it's difficult to not feel pangs of sadness and guilt when walking away as your child cries.

Diamond's daughter is now 16 years old, and Diamond is an associate professor of child development at Purdue University. As part of her job, she has witnessed many preschool partings.

School "In my experience, most kids don't run off into the preschool classroom, wave goodbye and never have any problem at all," says Diamond. "Almost all kids will cry or whimper or say something that indicates they're apprehensive."


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