We're still adjusting to this school thing. And, it appears that Nate's adjustments have gone a little bit more smoothly than his parents! While we didn't kick and scream and cry, Troy and I have been struggling a bit. Not in the way that most people would think though. You're thinking that we're all torn up about our baby growing up and all. Nope. I think we might be getting a C- in parenting and I'll prove it to you. Of course we're of the opinion that our kid is handsome and smart and blah blah blah. The typical biased perspective of a parent. However, we embrace reality as well. He's handsome, yes. Smart, yes, sometimes too much for his own good. Well-behaved. No. Not always. And sometimes we think never. We love him nonetheless, but sometimes we're very convinced that he might be the worst behaved 4-year-old on the planet and it's all our fault. And, sometimes we wonder if all he'll remember from his childhood is being in timeout.
First, I must mention that Troy and I are struggling with the communication from the teachers. We just don't 'feel the love,' if you know what I mean. We're not sure if this is because for the last four years we been spoiled by an awesome private home daycare provider that has given us daily feedback with dirty details including numbers of bowel movements, pictures of developmental milestones, reasons for time outs, etc. Another argument is that the teachers are just kind of quiet and cold or simply don't like Troy or myself. Or, maybe this is just the way it is when your kid is one of many in a classroom. You can guess which one we think it is.
Nate came home the other day and was explaining that he and two other kids got to go into the Kindergarten room. He explained that the other kids were misbehaving but was quick to defend himself and say that he was not 'in trouble.' Well, naturally, Troy and I raise an eyebrow to this scenario. Nate has quite the imagination and vocabulary. So, we start prodding and asking questions about this privileged adventure, but simply did not believe our kid. We were confused and concerned that he had been disciplined and it was never mentioned to Troy at pick-up. We then wondered how many other times he had misbehaved and we were unaware. This made the both of us uncomfortable.
There is class field trip to a local pumpkin patch today. Nate had mentioned it to us last week but we never got any notes from the teacher or a permission slip. Troy had checked Nate's mailbox at school as well as his backpack several times. Of course, Troy and I, being the awesome parents that we are, interpret this as a subtle hint that they simply do not want Nate to go on the field trip.
Troy and I had a serious conversation about all of this and decided that we owed it to Nate and to ourselves and would directly address the situation. So, Troy finally, directly, asked one of his teachers about Nate and his behavior during a pick-up this week. Much to our surprise, our kid is good. Apparently the trip to the kindergarten room did involve a bit of discipline but Nate was taken as the MODEL STUDENT for the other kids. The teacher went on to say that Nate is very well-behaved, he listens, he's polite, he doesn't whine (which the teachers explains is common for boys and girls this age), and he has lots of friends. Whoa. Troy first wondered if they were talking about the same kid and then had to pick up his jaw off the floor. And, he stuffed his AWESOME kid with suckers the whole way home in the van and immediately called me with the report. The permission slip for the field trip was oversight or just a mistake that they missed his mailbox.
So, now Troy and I are feeling guilty because we were thinking the worst of our child. And, in our true pessimistic parenting ways, we're going to embrace the goodness now, 'cause we're not sure how long it will last. We're hoping forever. We're also hoping that we get better at this parenting thing.
Nate as a mummy. Fine use of paper towels and toilet paper. Sorry mother earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment