ETA: and just to bring a little CEP vibe, my client asked me this morning how my weekend was and I mentioned it was my daughter's birthday today. He asked how old, 2-3? I said 1 and he responded, "wow you really lost the baby weight quickly."
Post by eponinepontmercy on Oct 10, 2017 10:18:04 GMT -5
She's so cute!
I often ask DD if she did anything nice for someone that day. Last night, she started to answer, then got quiet and she she didn't want to tell me. On the plus side, she shared her markers. On the minus side, she brought in a bunch of markers from home, which I told her not to do.
Then all hell broke loose this morning when I took all of the markers out of her bookbag. I'm still not sure what the deal is and why she needs an extra 25 markers. I assume it's because she has cooler colors and scented ones, but they still need to stay at home.
I often ask DD if she did anything nice for someone that day. Last night, she started to answer, then got quiet and she she didn't want to tell me. On the plus side, she shared her markers. On the minus side, she brought in a bunch of markers from home, which I told her not to do.
Then all hell broke loose this morning when I took all of the markers out of her bookbag. I'm still not sure what the deal is and why she needs an extra 25 markers. I assume it's because she has cooler colors and scented ones, but they still need to stay at home.
Your dd and I....we see eye to eye here. School art supplies suck. Highlight of my life was when I was in middle school and my mama bought my a full set of the good prismacolor colored pencils to take to art class and hoard all for my very own.
She then stole them out of my room while I was in college and uses them herself for adult coloring now and then. Those things really last...
Shorti continues to be a pill in dance class. I gave her the option of any food in the whole wide world for dinner before hand and she opted for a happy meal and ate most of it, so I'm pretty sure she was not Hangry. (this was my working theory on previous class fails) She stopped with the "i have to pee" pretense and is now going with a far more dramatic, "MY LEG HURTS I CANNOT DANCE" mid-class flop. Like full on collapses to the floor and just laid there whimpering. Teacher gently herded her out of the room and was like, "hey mom. Shorti needs a pep talk. If she wants to come back in, we're happy to have her, but...uhhh...yeah...." Shorti then told me she was thirsty, took a chug of my water and said she wanted to go back in. And then lasted about 10 minutes before doing it all over again about 1 minute before the end of class (teacher just ignored her). Then happily popped up, got her sticker and trotted out to show me said sticker. I then asked why she was laying on the floor instead of dancing and she was all, 'oh' *shifty eyes* MY LEG HURTS! IT HURTS SO BAD!"
this child. I have no idea why she's struggling with this. I have no idea why she keeps telling me she likes class and wants to keep going when that's CLEARLY not the case. And of course there's a part of my brain that's wondering if her leg actually hurts. It doesn't...I think that's clear. But still. I don't know what to do with her.
As much as she says she likes it, I think it's just not for her. Either this class isn't for her, or this teacher or....something. i started her in this because she asked if she could take dance class, but also because she's not in a structured daycare and I feel like she needs some pre-k group instruction practice. So now we're pretty clearly not sticking with it (though we're paid through october, so....I guess she could have a stunning turn-around next week and that could change) but I feel like I should try something else because this is really underscoring that whole needs practice listening/following instructions/being part of a group thing.
Happy Birthday, Young simpsongal! ♪ You're the birthday, you're the birthday, you're the birthday boy or girl ... ♪
I fed DD early this morning and of course she spit up all over the place. So I sat her up for nearly half and hour to digest, as usual, before I put her in the pack and play (where she promptly fell asleep) while I got ready for work. Got her in the car seat and off to daycare, and when we arrived she was happy as a clam. Took her out, put her up on my shoulder with a burp cloth, and she spit up again and got a bit of my sweater. Handed her off to the teacher, who sat down in the rocker with DD on her lap ... boom, HUGE spit-up all over DD's outfit and the teacher's jeans. Poor woman. She was SO cheerful and insisted that it was no problem.
Teacher got her into one of her backup outfits and I headed off to work. They're starting to upload pics to Instagram, so I'm waiting to see the infant photos so I can see if DD is already in another outfit.
Post by onomatopoeia on Oct 10, 2017 10:52:47 GMT -5
wawa, do you think she'd understand it if you explained to her that dancers don't act like that? That all the other girls aren't doing what she does? Not to shame her, but in a "this is how dancers dancers behave, if you can't do that we can try again later" sort of thing. FWIW DS1 was the same way with soccer, and we pulled him out. Fast forward 2 years he begged to try again and loved it, and is a very coachable kid (he still plays). I think he was just too young.
DS2 (8) was in his first karate tournament this weekend and got a 2nd and 3rd place trophy. I'm so proud, not just for doing so well but for actually participating in the first place. He's a little reserved, like I am, and I NEVER would have done that at his age.
wawa , do you think she'd understand it if you explained to her that dancers don't act like that? That all the other girls aren't doing what she does? Not to shame her, but in a "this is how dancers dancers behave, if you can't do that we can try again later" sort of thing. FWIW DS1 was the same way with soccer, and we pulled him out. Fast forward 2 years he begged to try again and loved it, and is a very coachable kid (he still plays). I think he was just too young.
DS2 (8) was in his first karate tournament this weekend and got a 2nd and 3rd place trophy. I'm so proud, not just for doing so well but for actually participating in the first place. He's a little reserved, like I am, and I NEVER would have done that at his age.
Go DS2! I was a shy kid, so I feel you on being proud on that part.
That's an interesting approach, and I think she'll probably understand...worth a try anyway.
Post by redheadbaker on Oct 10, 2017 15:16:18 GMT -5
Got this email from DS' kindergarten teacher. We never had this issue in pre-school. Open to advice from others who have dealt with it.
"Good Morning,
I am sorry to bother you at work but I just wanted to talk to you about your DS's behavior. Lately he has been struggling with following directions. I find him constantly talking and playing around on the carpet. He has been getting clipped down [on the behavior chart] because he is having difficulty changing his behavior from negative to positive. I think having a conversation with him at home would be very beneficial for his behavior in the classroom. He is such a bright student I don't want his behavior to get in the way of his academics. Thank you for your support!
Got this email from DS' kindergarten teacher. We never had this issue in pre-school. Open to advice from others who have dealt with it.
"Good Morning,
I am sorry to bother you at work but I just wanted to talk to you about your DS's behavior. Lately he has been struggling with following directions. I find him constantly talking and playing around on the carpet. He has been getting clipped down [on the behavior chart] because he is having difficulty changing his behavior from negative to positive. I think having a conversation with him at home would be very beneficial for his behavior in the classroom. He is such a bright student I don't want his behavior to get in the way of his academics. Thank you for your support!
Ms. Teacher"
I think some clarification from her ahead of time first: is he going to the carpet while he's supposed to be doing other tasks? Is is during carpet time? Is he distracting others?
Then I'd talk to him about what he thinks the expectations are. Kindy kids sometimes get confused with when they are allowed to do the fun stuff. Review those with him, see if it works.
Got this email from DS' kindergarten teacher. We never had this issue in pre-school. Open to advice from others who have dealt with it.
"Good Morning,
I am sorry to bother you at work but I just wanted to talk to you about your DS's behavior. Lately he has been struggling with following directions. I find him constantly talking and playing around on the carpet. He has been getting clipped down [on the behavior chart] because he is having difficulty changing his behavior from negative to positive. I think having a conversation with him at home would be very beneficial for his behavior in the classroom. He is such a bright student I don't want his behavior to get in the way of his academics. Thank you for your support!
Ms. Teacher"
Yes, discuss, but first ask what the redirects look like so you can explain when Ms. teacher tells you X, this is what you need to do.
Side rant: I hate clip charts. It defined Ds’s Entire school existence last year (1st) and seeing him this year, new school which doesn’t use them- he’s an entirely different kid, in all good ways. Last year: how was your day? yellow. This year: how was your day? We made aerodynamic rockets in art class.
Got this email from DS' kindergarten teacher. We never had this issue in pre-school. Open to advice from others who have dealt with it.
"Good Morning,
I am sorry to bother you at work but I just wanted to talk to you about your DS's behavior. Lately he has been struggling with following directions. I find him constantly talking and playing around on the carpet. He has been getting clipped down [on the behavior chart] because he is having difficulty changing his behavior from negative to positive. I think having a conversation with him at home would be very beneficial for his behavior in the classroom. He is such a bright student I don't want his behavior to get in the way of his academics. Thank you for your support!
Ms. Teacher"
Yes, discuss, but first ask what the redirects look like so you can explain when Ms. teacher tells you X, this is what you need to do.
Side rant: I hate clip charts. It defined Ds’s Entire school existence last year (1st) and seeing him this year, new school which doesn’t use them- he’s an entirely different kid, in all good ways. Last year: how was your day? yellow. This year: how was your day? We made aerodynamic rockets in art class.
Agree wholeheartedly on the clip charts. They use one in DD's 3-4 year old daycare room and she fixates on it. If she doesn't end up with a green day she's so upset and says "I want you to be happy. You happy mama?" It's heartbreaking. I didn't realize the charts' effects and embraced them at first, but like you that's how she answers "how was your day?" and she obsesses over who had green, yellow or red; if we are happy she had a green day etc. I wish they would stop using them. She's moving to a pre-school at the end of the month thankfully, and they don't use them.
On a related note, my kid apparently loves clip charts so much, she made one for her own room. It's a mountain. They get a treasure from the box when they make it to the top. I'm like, Uh....no treasures here, kid. She hung it anyway. Weirdo.
In my daughter's K they get their name under a happy or sad face depending on bevaior and then stars for each subsequent good behavior. After two stars in one day they get a prize from a prize bag.
Anyway my daughter has started the same program at home, that's how much she loves it. Yesterday I got 5 stars!! Her little sis got 3.
Post by jeaniebueller on Oct 10, 2017 19:12:59 GMT -5
Grade school homework struggles. Going on 1.5 hrs of DS working on one math sheet. Yes he can do the work. But he doesn’t want to and it’s boring and ‘why do I have to do homework’ and blah blah. I tried giving him an incentive. (He also took a few breaks to shower and play a few rounds of don’t break the ice with his sister, so he hasn’t been working the entire 90 min). I don’t know what to do. I refuse to have a power struggle with an 8 year old every goddamn evening. Advice?
DS1 is home sick today. Fever keeps popping up to 102 so he’s probably out the rest of the week at this rate.
His school is hit and miss on communication and I really want to push the issue. He *may* have to wear a costume for All Saints Day (Nov 1). Of course there has been zero communication on this yet. I’m ordering Halloween costumes now and want to knock this out at the same time. Not like I’m crafty enough to whip up a St Michael the Archangel costume last minute. Ugh. So I’m starting a google doc with a bunch of the other parents so we can get this institutional knowledge out of the institution and into someplace functional for the parents.
Post by meshaliuknits on Oct 11, 2017 20:58:20 GMT -5
My kids school district is closed tomorrow due to the air quality. I'm annoyed because there is no way the air quality at home is any different than school. I mean, it's three blocks away.
Post by redheadbaker on Oct 12, 2017 8:11:25 GMT -5
Update on DS' classroom behavior. He had a MUCH better day on Wednesday. We just had a quick conversation Tuesday night about our expectations and the rules in the classroom.
Also, he didn't eat most of his lunch on Tuesday, which probably contributed to his behavior that afternoon.
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 12, 2017 8:27:58 GMT -5
Last night I went to an info session for kids entering K next September. MY BAAAAAAAABYYYYYY.
We should have no problem getting into our zoned elementary school and we know lots of happy parents there, but I figure it doesn't hurt to check out the other nearby schools since we could put up to 12 choices down on the application. If we like another school better, we can make that our top choice and if there aren't enough spots, we've got our zoned school as our "fallback" option, so it's all good.
And I start my new job on 11/6. I cannot wait to let the girls sleep in a little longer in the morning so I can take my merry little time getting ready and doing other stuff in the early AM. The universe knows I'm leaving my current job soon and is making my commute extra hellacious as a special "fuck you", I guess. What should be a 45-60 minute drive each way is now 1-1.5 hours no matter how early I try to leave either home or work. My new commute will only be 15-20 minutes! Maybe I'll finally find time to exercise again.