Has it really been a week?

Apparently so.

In some ways we are still trying to find our way and in others it feels so good to be on a routine. LOL.


So far so good. Lindsay doesn't like having to get up to go to school each day and has already started complaining about that. On Tuesday she was out of sorts. She was falling apart over little things, snapped at her teacher (who she adores) and then got in a fight with a kid at the lunch tables. I couldn't get anything out of her other than she didn't like him, she was never going back to school again even though Mrs. P is wonderful. I emailed her teacher to find out what happened and was told that she got mad because the kid was sitting too close to her and wouldn't move. She yelled at him to move and when he yelled back she scratched him so he scratched her back. They both lost a star for not using their problem solving skills. Her teacher said we will work together to help her learn to use a nice tone when turning down help, learn to ask for help rather than falling apart (she does not believe adults really need help -- its all made up when we ask-- so she thinks only babies ask for help and she is not a baby), and learn to deal with different people without getting loud or physical when she is not getting her way.


Using what the teacher told me, I talked to Lindsay and she said he was sitting on her backpack so she asked him to move and he wouldn't. He didn't even say anything, so she asked him again and when he still didn't do anything she yelled at him. He just yelled back in a roar so she tried to make him move. Then she disolved into tears again. We spent some time talking about better ways to handle it when people aren't doing what you need them to/want them to. She doesn't want to be a tattle-tail but she needs to understand that sometimes if you can't work it out yourself you need to talk to the teacher or a parent. I think she was over-tired because she'd refused to go to bed the night before. We had a laid back afternoon and then I got her into bed earlier. Wednesday she had a great day. Today was an okay day. She and and another girl in the class thought it was funny to keep repeating "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!" and then would giggle. Mrs. P asked the other girl to stop and then Lindsay kept going "because she didn't ask me to stop so I didn't know." I told her that just like at home if another person is asked to stop doing something it is not a good idea to do it. My mom says she is so much like my brother was at this age and to be prepared. LOL. Oh man, I think I'm in trouble if she is like he was. He was a handful.


Philip is doing great. He is adjusting, although slowly, to Mrs. T's high expectations of behavior. Yesterday he came home without a warning. Yeah! Last Thursday was a free day because it was the first day back and she was going over the rules. Friday he ended up losing Monday's recess because in the afternoon he got two warnings (the second one means you lose a recess, the third one means you have to write a note and your parents get called, the fourth means you go to the principal's office). Monday and Tuesday he got one warning. Monday's was for messing with his pencil sharpener and Tuesday was for not having all 4 legs of the chair on the floor. She gives general reminders and "class" reminders before she feels compelled to single out a child and have them write up the warning and sign it. He had such a great day yesterday and she saw a termendous jump in his behavior that she emailed me to tell me how good it was. She said to give it about another week and a half of issues at home before it clicks every where with him. She is going to be so good for him both academically and behaviorialy. Unfortunately today he got a warning -- for not pushing in his chair again. Ack! They start telling the kids in Kindergarten to push in chairs when they get up, you would think a 4th grader would already have that part down pat.