Boy Lacer had his first day at playgroup today. Whereas I was perfectly happy when Girl Lacer went off for her first day at playgroup, Boy Lacer with his clinginess and developmental delay is a different kettle of fish. It doesn’t help that the playgroup he was down to go to, which Girl Lacer used to go, closed down last May. It was a lovely playgroup, staffed by people you had every confidence that they knew what they were doing and some were even special needs qualified. The playgroup was held in it’s own building and was just lovely and cozy, unfortunately it was it’s building that was it’s down fall, there was structural damage to the roof and that was it for the playgroup. This new playgroup is in a hall, used for countless other things, although at least two of the staff from the old playgroup are at this new one.
Anyway me and Girl Lacer took Boy Lacer to playgroup, I was under every expectation that I’d be staying for the entire first session to let Boy Lacer settle in, I’d even cancelled a meeting I was meant to go to. Ok I’ve only got experience of one other playgroup, but in Girl Lacer’s old playgroup parents were allowed to stay for as long as they wanted (one friend stayed with her son for an entire half term as he wasn’t happy) but today I was under the distinct impression that I was expected to leave, so me and Girl Lacer left. To which Boy Lacer shouted his usual anguished “Noooooo”. But we left and went back home, Girl Lacer had a much needed rest watching TV and I cleaned the kitchen, anxiously clock watching the entire time.
We were a bit early picking up Boy Lacer and all, well nearly all of the kids were outside in the play area playing. Boy Lacer apparently didn’t want to go outside, so they let him stay inside. When I arrived he was sitting there on his own (with a member of staff tidying up) looking like he literally had a little grey thunder cloud drizzling over his head. Anyway apparently he was grizzly.
As we left Boy Lacer walked out holding my hand, as he does, the staff seemed really surprised, I think (although had told them he could walk if someone held his hand) they had just literally bodily picked up him to transfer him from activity to activity.
So feeling a bit sad, I don’t like putting my little boy someone where he’s miserable but it’s for his own good, I also don’t like that he didn’t go out to play, it feels like exclusion, although it was his own choice (although he tends to say no to everything anyway) and probably a little sensible as he can’t yet walk properly and the play area was full of kids running round, climbing and riding cars, so I suspect he’ll be inside next week and the week after that and the week after that and so on and so on.
Anyway we’ll see.
I’m all written out (and only day 2 of NaNoWriMo), so I can’t say much but I’ve just watched The Pursuit of Happyness (after planning to watch Premonition and then realising when getting the DVD envelope that actually I’d just returned Premonition and sitting there was the not very good RV which we’d already seen, so we were left with Will Smith instead) and anyway it was a really really lovely film, I’m sucker for films and TV with a parenting theme as long as it’s done well (no cheesy movies please aka RV). Take the recent (on BBC2 so not that recent) Heroes episode finally showing the true depths of HRGs relationship with his adopted daughter, that was fantastic. Anyway The Pursuit of Happyness is fantastic, there’s not many movies that provoke tears of 
