It starts early.

Not wanting to go to school, that is.

The past few weeks, each and every morning, we hear the same thing.

Ari: I no want go to school. I no want to see my friends. I want stay home.

Me: Why?

Ari: Because. Because no. I want stay home.

Me: Why do you want to stay home?

Ari: Because I want to. I want to watch Dora.

Me: Does someone bother you in school?

Ari: Drew.

Me: Did he hurt you?

Ari: Not yet. He hit other kids.

On and on and on...

What to do?

I have wondered if it is a stage, the typical "I don't want to go just because." I have wondered if she feels uncomfortable. If so, what is going on? I have wondered if someone is picking on her or bothering her. If so, how do the teachers handle it? Would they tell me about it?

At this point, my guess is that it is simply that she wants to stay home just because. That being said, I feel I ought to look into it. If something was going on, I would kick myself later, to say the least.

I am going to talk to one of her teachers. I also would like to go in and observe via the one-way window for a little bit. I wouldn't make a habit of doing this. I would not want to make the teachers feel uncomfortable. But I would like to learn more about what it is like in the classroom. And, I want to know, first hand, how my child is doing and feeling when she is in the classroom. It will be a bit interesting to pull this off. Not driving sucks big time, particularly when the school is 20 minutes away and we live in the boonies, sort of. But I'll figure something out.

If I am correct, if this is only the classic "I want to stay home just because," how should I handle it? What do you do?

Thus far, I have been empathetic, understanding, but firm that she is going to school. I wouldn't mind keeping her home for a day if she needed to recharge. But she is saying she does not want to go each and every day. Yesterday, she said she did not want to go. If going on a cruise of the Caribbean for a week did not recharge her, I don't know what would!

Thoughts?