Child Psychology

As I took Hallie to her room at school today, I walked past a little girl in another room who was standing by the door screaming. She was about 3. I arrived in Hallie's room, put her bottles in the fridge, handed her to Miss Alexis, and stealthily escaped without any separation anxiety of our own.

As I exited her room and again passed the screaming preschooler, I noticed her mother come out of the room. I guess she had gone back to check on her (hello--any former nursery worker knows that is a serious mistake). A teacher at the school, in an attempt to encourage her, told the mother that the little girl would be ok and that she would eventually start playing with the other children.

The mother, in a frenzied huff, remarked, "Well, we're taking her to two therapists, so hopefully it will get better soon." And then she left.

I stood there for a minute digesting what I had just heard. This woman was taking her 3 year old to a THERAPIST. Scratch that--TWO therapists! Because she has separation anxiety!

My question is this: when this phase passes in her daughter's life, which it undoubtedly will, will she really believe that it's the therapy finally kicking in? And another thing: what happens if this child actually has some serious problems one day? She will have already exhausted all of Birmingham's qualified therapists at the ripe old age of 6.