Starting Pre-K 3

Monday was Meet the Teacher.  He felt right at home running down the halls, even though he didn't know which classroom he was going to.  He's got two teachers that know very little about him, which I think is a good thing.  They won't let him sweet talk or wink his way out of trouble.  He's one of 13 - 10 boys and 3 girls - oh, my!  Miss Tammy and Miss Mallory have their hands full!

Without much waiting, today Tuesday was the first day of class.  Yippee!  For me anyway.  John was a bit stubborn this morning and said he didn't want to go.  This was totally a response to not getting his way.  I managed to break the spell by making him take some "Back to School" photos - don't you love my snazzy backdrop?  It took me about 30 seconds before he broke out his best smile for me.

Then he decided a silly face was in order!

And another!  After this I decided we'd better get moving on toward school.  Don't want to be too late the first day!

He saved his best smile at school for the picture with his favorite redheaded girl, but I managed to grab a good one before we went in for the day.

He had a good day.  He'd gotten to be the line leader and could even tell me who had all the other jobs.  After school we ate lunch at home and played together.  He was mostly pleasant to me all day.  Well, except for him waking me at 626a this morning to tell me it was too dark outside.  Yes, I told him, because it's too early to be up and waking Momma!  He saved some attitude for Daddy however.  But they worked it out after some drama.  It seems JNP has gotten the short end of the stick lately.   Here's to better days ahead!

-EBP-

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Changes

Something's missing, don't you think?  Mr. Bear, blankie, his pillow.

A relocation has occurred.  This is the daybed in John's room.  For about a week or so now, he's been sleeping in this bed.  When asked if he wants to move back to his bed, the answer is a firm no.  It started when he couldn't sleep one night.  Anything to get him to settle down and sleep is OK with me.  The floor has been used before.  But this seems more permanent.  Now I'm thinking about if it's time to convert his bed to a full size or just to continue to leave him in this twin. 

You'll notice the rumple in the comforter.  That's actually a bumper pillow from his baby bed stuffed up under the comforter.  it serves the purpose of keeping him from falling out of the bed.  And the big dark brown bear has only recently become an important part of his sleep routine.  He often sleeps with his arm tossed over it's neck.  The drawback to the big bear aside from the space he takes up is that he makes John sweat worse than he already does when he sleeps.

We are struggling with naps and going to bed at a decent hour.  Half the days he doesn't want to and won't take a nap during quiet time, which lately has started about 3pm.  The only constant when he doesn't nap is the question, "Is my quiet time over yet?"  On those days he's mostly bearable through dinner and into bath time.  Bath can get a bit dramatic if he's too tired.  By the time he hits the bed, he's ready sleep won't be too far from coming.  The other half of the days, he naps and the evening is pleasant until we leave him in his bed.  And he won't sleep, sometimes for an hour or more.  He's getting up to potty or ask what we are doing tomorrow.  Lately, I've taken to telling him if he comes out again, I'd spank him.  Unfortunately, he forgets that after some time and I have to spank him.  That's usually the end of things, for that night anyway.  We need to change something, but I'm just not sure what.  Maybe move QT earlier?

The other thing we are struggling with is JHP's attitude.  As this week leading up to school starting has progressed, John's gotten more and more difficult.  Lots of means words, yelling, trying to be in charge, being disrespectful and generally an adversarial attitude.  I've done lots of counseling about being nice to people so they'll be nice to you.  Sometimes that works and other times not so much.  Daddy and John have had their share of run-ins.  It's not been fun, although it's not been as bad as some of the other phases we've been through.  I'm hoping that with the start of school and a new routine things will line themselves out.  Hopefully being around other kids and not around Momma all day will help make us all appreciate each other a bit more.  And I really hope that the attitude disappears and doesn't sneak out at school.  Otherwise I'll guess I'll be in for a ear full at the end of each day.

-EBP-

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Graceful Lines

On Wednesday, my son insisted on wearing pants - even though it was going to be over 100 degrees.  I drew the line at him wearing the sweat pants.  I found the lightest pair and gave him permission to wear those.  It just wasn't something I wanted to fight about.  After a trip out of the house and some lunch, we played with John's cars.  A very impressive line he made.

 But when I asked for a pose with his cars, you can see just how excited he was to help me out. 

After I told him a funny, he gave me a smile and I considered my work done.

-EBP-

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