Each month, Kaia’s new school will have activities where parents are invited to participate in the classroom. It’s done by lottery, and usually two parents will be invited to join each event. This month, I was selected as one of two caregivers to attend for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival lantern making activity. I dropped Kaia off at the school at 8:30 and then came back at 10am for the lantern making. It was a bit haphazard, as nothing was really described beforehand, and we all just jumped into the activity. The kids were given the supplies, and steps were barely described even as we went about the activity. On a positive note, I finally got to meet the Chinese teacher, who comes in from 9-4:30 every day, which is why I hadn’t met her yet; we just never overlapped since I pick up at around 5pm.

Pookster was very excited to see me come into the classroom, but she reverted into a bit of a baby from the moment I arrived. She wanted me to do all the pasting and positioning of the mooncakes and rabbits for her on the lantern. She wanted to squirt liquid glue everywhere (which I was not an fan of…). And every time I got up to get supplies or my phone to take photos, she freaked out and followed me, thinking that I was going to leave. When she said she had to go pee, the Chinese teacher offered to take her, but she refused. So the Chinese teacher still took her, and I just sat and watched from outside the door so she could see me.

“It’s okay,” the Chinese teacher reassured me in Chinese. “All the kids are like this. Once their mommy comes, they just want mommy and no one else. She is usually good here and always listens. She’ll go back to normal once you leave.”

The activity barely lasted 30 minutes, so I really wasn’t there that long. When I had to leave, it was total pandemonium. One kid whose grandpa had come was crying because her grandpa was leaving, and then Kaia started crying loudly when I told her I had to go, but Daddy would come pick her up later. One of the admins picked her up to comfort her as I said bye and went out the door.

I’m not sure I should come to these events moving forward after this. I don’t want to disrupt the day and just want her to engage with the daily activities and have fun with her classmates. The admin reassured me this was all normal and not unique to her, so it is what it is. It just made me feel bad that when I wanted to participate when given an opportunity, I probably made the day worse in the end for my Pookster.