Dad,

My daughter had been in school now for several weeks. She only does two days a week, but this is her first experience away from home. Yesterday, at breakfast, she told me that she didn’t want to go to school.

“Its not all playing, Dad. We have to do group time, and singing songs.” She then told me about how the other kids don’t play with her. Now, I know my daughter well, and I suggested that she play with them rather than expecting them to play with her. She thought about it, and after breakfast she told me that she would go to school, but she wouldn’t sleep during nap time. She asked me some pointed questions on the walk to school about how she might play with the other kids, and when I dropped her off I got the sense that she really was concerned about what might happen,but she truly did want to make friends. She was a little scared, but she went in anyway, because she, in her own simple way, had weighed her options, and she decided that the risk was worth the reward.

Coincidentally, she had a great day and now has a best friend. But she didn’t sleep during nap time.

Bryan.