Trauma for Te

Today I met Duana at the Gym to check out this new class called Body Vibe to see whether or not she wanted to add the class to her list of possible certifications. Today was Te's first experience in any daycare environment and about 35 minutes into the class - the daycare attendant was beckoning me from the class window to tell me that Te was crying and he wouldn't stop.
Initially I was feeling pretty optimistic that Te would enjoy the gym - it has kids and it has lots and lots of toys that Te doesn't have - and on the car ride over he seemed pretty excited. Te loves kids. So his mantra on the car ride was "gym, gym, gym" with definite glee in his heart. Again adding to my optimism about going to daycare was that Kobe & Devin would be with Te. When we got to the parking lot ironically Kobe & Devin were just showing up so Te was pretty excited to see his friends - he followed them right into daycareland. He was blind.
Like I said, the blinders came off about 35 minutes into class and I had to rescue Te from daycareland. The little bug was crying, standing and staring out the window. I think he was looking for the car - since the first thing he told me was car - meaning, "let's get the hell out of here lady!" I thought it possible to perhaps calm him down and convince him to stay, however, he was very very determined to get the hell out there and not look back. I had to retrieve my things from class and of course took Te with me - I had to go back to daycareland and pay for our one session - and the whaling began again. When we got to the car I had a discussion with him and I think it boiled down to being a little scared, not knowing where mommy was, and hanging out with a bunch of strangers. When we were leaving the parking lot Te proclaimed, "me no like gym."
So our first experience with daycare was obviously not a pleasant one - I am still optimistic - Te needs to socialize with people of his general age group. I think his immune system is getting stronger which encourages me to help socialize the little bug. In time with a few more 1/2 hour sessions I believe the gym will not be so traumatic - I think his behavior is common so not to be detoured from the little dude potentially having a great time.