This morning Thing 1 was playing in the living room with his superheroes. He noticed that The Flash was up on a shelf. Here was the conversation:
Thing 1: "Can you get The Flash? He's way up there."
Me: "How did he get up there?"
Thing 1: "I don't know. He must have jumped up there. And he won't jump down because we are looking at him!"
Too much Toy Story watching?
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
I Expected This Behavior From Children
On Monday, I picked the boys up from daycare around 5pm. When I went to Thing 1's room to pick him up I was told that some of the children were moved to the 3 year old room due to ratio issues. So I proceeded to collect Thing 1's belongings and go outside to the playground to pick up Thing 1 and Thing 2. I wandered onto the playground to find Thing 1 sitting on a bench at a picnic table. Once he saw me, he ran over crying. He had huge tears rolling down his face and seemed extremely upset. I gave him a hug and held him and asked him what was wrong. All he could say was "I want you." Now, let me say, he is NEVER like this when I pick him up. I sat down on one of the pieces of playground equipment to ask him what was wrong. He didn't want to tell me. I told him that he could tell me either in the car on the way home or when we get home, but I did need him to tell me what made him so upset. (Meanwhile, Thing 2 wandered over to me, so I did end up with both children.)
We left the daycare, loaded up into our car, and began to drive home. It was very quiet in the car on the way home. This is very unusual as I am usually asked for 2 minutes of peace and quiet just so my head will stop spinning! About halfway home, I asked Thing 1 what had happened at school to make him so upset. Thing 1 said that one of his teachers (which will be known as Ms. Meanie) called him "poopie." Yes, a teacher called my son a name. (Let me also let all of you know that when Thing 1 was in the 3 year old room, we had issues with this teacher sending him home frequently - almost weekly - for diarrehea. Thing 1 was having issues with his bowel movements. We have since resolved the issue and found it to be a medical concern, not a behavioral issue.)
I was extremely angry, frustrated, and upset. How could a teacher call a child a name? Isn't she supposed to be a role model? This is my sensitive child that she just hurt. He has been working very hard this past year on his self confidence and improved greatly. I felt that this name calling from a so-called professional was really going to push him back. We spent the evening role-playing what to do if anyone, including a teacher, says something to Thing 1 that he doesn't like. We also spent time listing positive things about Thing 1.
On Tuesday, it took everything for me to drop my child back off at school. I had to walk past Ms. Meanie three times that morning. I contacted the directors of the daycare around 10 on Tuesday morning and requested a meeting for that afternoon. I met with the directors and told them everything that had happened. I requested that Thing 1 never be placed in the 3 year old room with Ms. Meanie again. I was also informed that my son was in the room with Ms. Meanie for only an hour. He had been in his classroom for the majority of the day. The directors were understanding and did tell the teachers of the 4 year old room that Thing 1 is not allowed to go back to the 3 year old room if there is ratio issues. I also told the directors that if they are really having issues with ratio, then they can call me and I will pick up my child.
Throughout the week I was told by the three teachers that Thing 1 has, that they were sorry for what had occurred and will not be moving Thing 1 to Ms. Meanie's room. I had a talk with Thing 1's main teacher (let's call her Ms. Montessori) on Wednesday afternoon. During the conversation I found out that Ms. Montessori had complained about Ms. Meanie to the directors on multiple occasions due to how Ms. Meanie speaks to the children. Ms. Montessori and I scheduled a meeting for Friday afternoon for a parent-teacher conference (it just so happened to be the time of year to schedule one and I figured it would be a good time to discuss the event of earlier in the week and my child's self confidence issue).
On Friday, I met with Ms. Montessori. We went through all the regular things in a parent-teacher conference from what I can tell. I was told what areas my son was progressing in and what areas he was doing well. I pretty much knew these things as The Mr. and I work with Thing 1 on the areas that he needs assistance. When it came time to talk about my concerns, I brought up my concern with Thing 1's low self-confidence. Ms. Montessori agreed and said that he had improved greatly in his self-confidence since moving into her classroom. I expressed my concern on how the event on Monday could effect Thing 1 and that I was not sure if I wanted to keep him at the center (especially since Ms. Montessori will be leaving in 2 months to have a baby and Thing 1 loves her!). Ms. Montessori understood and suggested I look into summer camp as a lot of the children in the 4 year old room who are 5 or will turn 5 by summer will be leaving the center for summer camps before starting kindergarten.
I left the meeting with some stress relief but still unsure what to do with my son. I was at the point on Monday afternoon of taking him out of the center immediately and keeping him with me forever. However, I knew that wasn't the right thing to do. I am already having issues with him starting kindergarten in the fall (my baby is getting so big and growing up so fast!) and that I have to learn to let go. I just didn't think that I would have to start letting him go so quickly. I thought that daycare would be a safe place and that the teachers would protect him. I expect that children will be mean to other children, I just didn't expect this type of behavior from a teacher.
The Mr. and I have begun looking into summer camps to put Thing 1 into. We are also starting to look at new daycare centers as Thing 2 will be in Ms. Meanie's room in a year. (If Ms. Meanie is gone, before Thing 2 enters her room, then I will probably keep him at that center. However, he is a different type of kid, so he won't necessary internalize something like that if it happens to him. He would be more likely to punch the teacher if she said that to him, than cry after the fact. I would probably prefer that response.) Until decisions are made regarding what we are doing with our children, particularly Thing 1, I will be stressed and I think I will forever worry about Thing 1 and his self-confidence. I am hoping that getting him to an extra curricular activity once kindergarten starts will help him improve his self-confidence. I feel for my son. He is just like his mother, that's for sure, and I know how difficult it can be growing up with low self-confidence and being such an empathic person. I just hope we can help him to improve his self-confidence so he doesn't go through some of the things that I did.
We left the daycare, loaded up into our car, and began to drive home. It was very quiet in the car on the way home. This is very unusual as I am usually asked for 2 minutes of peace and quiet just so my head will stop spinning! About halfway home, I asked Thing 1 what had happened at school to make him so upset. Thing 1 said that one of his teachers (which will be known as Ms. Meanie) called him "poopie." Yes, a teacher called my son a name. (Let me also let all of you know that when Thing 1 was in the 3 year old room, we had issues with this teacher sending him home frequently - almost weekly - for diarrehea. Thing 1 was having issues with his bowel movements. We have since resolved the issue and found it to be a medical concern, not a behavioral issue.)
I was extremely angry, frustrated, and upset. How could a teacher call a child a name? Isn't she supposed to be a role model? This is my sensitive child that she just hurt. He has been working very hard this past year on his self confidence and improved greatly. I felt that this name calling from a so-called professional was really going to push him back. We spent the evening role-playing what to do if anyone, including a teacher, says something to Thing 1 that he doesn't like. We also spent time listing positive things about Thing 1.
On Tuesday, it took everything for me to drop my child back off at school. I had to walk past Ms. Meanie three times that morning. I contacted the directors of the daycare around 10 on Tuesday morning and requested a meeting for that afternoon. I met with the directors and told them everything that had happened. I requested that Thing 1 never be placed in the 3 year old room with Ms. Meanie again. I was also informed that my son was in the room with Ms. Meanie for only an hour. He had been in his classroom for the majority of the day. The directors were understanding and did tell the teachers of the 4 year old room that Thing 1 is not allowed to go back to the 3 year old room if there is ratio issues. I also told the directors that if they are really having issues with ratio, then they can call me and I will pick up my child.
Throughout the week I was told by the three teachers that Thing 1 has, that they were sorry for what had occurred and will not be moving Thing 1 to Ms. Meanie's room. I had a talk with Thing 1's main teacher (let's call her Ms. Montessori) on Wednesday afternoon. During the conversation I found out that Ms. Montessori had complained about Ms. Meanie to the directors on multiple occasions due to how Ms. Meanie speaks to the children. Ms. Montessori and I scheduled a meeting for Friday afternoon for a parent-teacher conference (it just so happened to be the time of year to schedule one and I figured it would be a good time to discuss the event of earlier in the week and my child's self confidence issue).
On Friday, I met with Ms. Montessori. We went through all the regular things in a parent-teacher conference from what I can tell. I was told what areas my son was progressing in and what areas he was doing well. I pretty much knew these things as The Mr. and I work with Thing 1 on the areas that he needs assistance. When it came time to talk about my concerns, I brought up my concern with Thing 1's low self-confidence. Ms. Montessori agreed and said that he had improved greatly in his self-confidence since moving into her classroom. I expressed my concern on how the event on Monday could effect Thing 1 and that I was not sure if I wanted to keep him at the center (especially since Ms. Montessori will be leaving in 2 months to have a baby and Thing 1 loves her!). Ms. Montessori understood and suggested I look into summer camp as a lot of the children in the 4 year old room who are 5 or will turn 5 by summer will be leaving the center for summer camps before starting kindergarten.
I left the meeting with some stress relief but still unsure what to do with my son. I was at the point on Monday afternoon of taking him out of the center immediately and keeping him with me forever. However, I knew that wasn't the right thing to do. I am already having issues with him starting kindergarten in the fall (my baby is getting so big and growing up so fast!) and that I have to learn to let go. I just didn't think that I would have to start letting him go so quickly. I thought that daycare would be a safe place and that the teachers would protect him. I expect that children will be mean to other children, I just didn't expect this type of behavior from a teacher.
The Mr. and I have begun looking into summer camps to put Thing 1 into. We are also starting to look at new daycare centers as Thing 2 will be in Ms. Meanie's room in a year. (If Ms. Meanie is gone, before Thing 2 enters her room, then I will probably keep him at that center. However, he is a different type of kid, so he won't necessary internalize something like that if it happens to him. He would be more likely to punch the teacher if she said that to him, than cry after the fact. I would probably prefer that response.) Until decisions are made regarding what we are doing with our children, particularly Thing 1, I will be stressed and I think I will forever worry about Thing 1 and his self-confidence. I am hoping that getting him to an extra curricular activity once kindergarten starts will help him improve his self-confidence. I feel for my son. He is just like his mother, that's for sure, and I know how difficult it can be growing up with low self-confidence and being such an empathic person. I just hope we can help him to improve his self-confidence so he doesn't go through some of the things that I did.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
It's Been One of Those Days
On Tuesday of this past week, my husband and I started the day by arguing over who would go to work. Daycare was closed and my program was closed, so he won. I really wanted to go to work as I had been home with the kids for 4 days by this point and was going stir crazy. Well, I didn't expect the day to go exactly as it did.
First, in the morning, I left the boys in the living room to play while I went to the bathroom. I came out of the bathroom to find that the boys opened the baby gate, got into the kitchen, pulled out the dog treats, and dumped all of them in MJ's cage. MJ enjoyed this as she had multiple snacks at her disposal without having do to anything to earn them!
That afternoon while the kids took naps at the exact same time (believe me this is rare), I decided to clean some of the house. When the boys got up, I thought that would be a good time to give them a bath before The Mr. got home. Bathtime went as usual - washing and splashing. After bathtime, I put the kids in the living room, again, to play, while I cleaned up the towels and such from the bathroom. You would think I would have learned from the mornings incident. However, I did not. I came back to find that the boys had gotten into the markers and drawn all over themselves. They had drawn on their hands, faces and the back of their necks! By this point, I couldn't wait for The Mr. to get home. I wanted to get my coat on and run away screaming! (Of course, I didn't.) Instead, I sat on a chair and talked to my mother on the phone while I had the boys pick up the toys in the living room. While on the phone, Thing 2 opened the door to the entertainment center. I told him multiple times to close the door. He just stood there and stared at me. He knew exactly what I was telling him to do. I then stood up, he then closed the door.
Once my husband got home, I told him that I was done parenting for the day and it was his turn.
First, in the morning, I left the boys in the living room to play while I went to the bathroom. I came out of the bathroom to find that the boys opened the baby gate, got into the kitchen, pulled out the dog treats, and dumped all of them in MJ's cage. MJ enjoyed this as she had multiple snacks at her disposal without having do to anything to earn them!
That afternoon while the kids took naps at the exact same time (believe me this is rare), I decided to clean some of the house. When the boys got up, I thought that would be a good time to give them a bath before The Mr. got home. Bathtime went as usual - washing and splashing. After bathtime, I put the kids in the living room, again, to play, while I cleaned up the towels and such from the bathroom. You would think I would have learned from the mornings incident. However, I did not. I came back to find that the boys had gotten into the markers and drawn all over themselves. They had drawn on their hands, faces and the back of their necks! By this point, I couldn't wait for The Mr. to get home. I wanted to get my coat on and run away screaming! (Of course, I didn't.) Instead, I sat on a chair and talked to my mother on the phone while I had the boys pick up the toys in the living room. While on the phone, Thing 2 opened the door to the entertainment center. I told him multiple times to close the door. He just stood there and stared at me. He knew exactly what I was telling him to do. I then stood up, he then closed the door.
Once my husband got home, I told him that I was done parenting for the day and it was his turn.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Snow Over Our Heads
The snow finally stopped around 5pm yesterday. The Mr. began shoveling us out of the driveway last night so we could go places today, if needed. We did finally leave the house after noon today, just so we could see something besides the inside of our home. A lot of the schools seem to be closed for tomorrow and driving around here isn't the greatest. I've found that they really don't know how to plow here.
Once we got back from driving around town to see what the rest of the city looked like, The Mr. took the kids out to play. Here's some pictures of their fun:
Here's a picture of Thing 1's snow angel:
Once we got back from driving around town to see what the rest of the city looked like, The Mr. took the kids out to play. Here's some pictures of their fun:
Here's a picture of Thing 1's snow angel:
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Blizzard 2010
Me and the boys haven't left the house since Thursday evening due to the anticipation of the blizzard of 2010, or snow-maggedon or snow-pocalypse, whichever you prefer. The Mr. did go to work on Friday. I stayed home with the boys and gave him my 4-wheel drive vehicle to drive around. I was able to do work from home and wouldn't be missing anything at work that day. Now that it is Saturday evening, I am already dreading another day indoors. The boys are getting antsy as it is, another day inside isn't going to help things. My biggest concern is if we have enough stuff to do to keep all of us occupied until we are able to leave. We made a pizza, baked cookies, played Wii, and watched a new movie that we purchased just for the occasion. What should we do tomorrow?
The Mr. decided to begin shoveling since it stopped snowing right before dinner. It only took him an hour to shovel a path from our back steps to our vehicles parked at the end of the driveway. I'm hoping we are able to get out of the house by tomorrow around noon, just so we can see something besides the inside of our home!
We have been letting MJ out multiple times to allow her to do her business and The Mr. said it was funny to see her hop around in the snow. It is well over her head! We are unsure how much snow we have received but I am sure it is over 2 feet.
Here's some pictures before the blizzard:
During the snow:
Monday, February 1, 2010
Quiz
So, Thing 1 received a toy computer from Santa. It's a learning computer that has various games and ways to teach math and reading. He really seems to enjoy it. The other day he was playing a game on it called something along the lines of choose the picture that doesn't belong. He asked me to explain the game and tell him what he was supposed to do. When the first group of choices came up I told him what the pictures were and asked him which one was different from the others. Here were the choices: car, bicycle, or motorcycle. Now, I had a hard time with this one. Which item doesn't belong? I would like to know your opinion on this one. Thing 1 didn't seem to have difficulty and choose the "right"answer. The funny thing is that I saw 2 appropriate "correct" answers and if you choose the other one, it was wrong. However, during a different game, on the same computer, that pretty much asked the same question of which one is different, the answer was not the same as the answer from the "Which one doesn't belong" game. I don't get it. I guess my 4 year old is smarter than me!
So tell me, which one doesn't belong - the car, the bicycle, or the motorcyle. Why did you choose that answer?
So tell me, which one doesn't belong - the car, the bicycle, or the motorcyle. Why did you choose that answer?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Bunkbeds
About a week ago we purchased the boys bunkbeds. Thing 2 was getting to the point where he was going to jump right out of his crib. So instead of transforming the crib into a daybed, we went straight for the bunkbed. The boys are sharing a room and with 2 beds in there, there wouldn't be much room to walk around. The Mr. spent last Saturday putting together the bunkbed while I took the boys to the park and out to lunch. Here's the end result:
I think they turned out pretty good. Both boys seem to enjoy them. Our biggest problem was keeping Thing 2 in bed!
I think they turned out pretty good. Both boys seem to enjoy them. Our biggest problem was keeping Thing 2 in bed!
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