Playground Politics

We've had some issues over the last few weeks with little Bit's daycare/preschool. I'm going to copy and paste my Facebook statuses about it so I don't have to retype. So, if anyone comes by here (I know I haven't been posting) and has some advice...

May 6th -
School has called us three times to come pick Little Bit up early. He is climbing to the top of the playset, refusing to come down.. He has also hit one of the teachers in the face, knocking off her glasses. Today while we talked to the assistant director, he locked himself and another child in the bathroom, then threw wooden puzzle pieces at his teacher's face, making her cry. =:-o

The assistant director said that she was thinking he might be getting bored with his age class he's in because he's gifted. We had thought of the same thing. I'm going to look into what gifted programs the local school has, though I don't know that they have something for a(n almost) four year old. However, I read awhile ago that they test all incoming kindergarteners to see if they are gifted and need extra attention. Some school districts will test early if requested.

Last night, Little Bit asked if his dad would write out some words for him. Little Mike then proceeded to sound them out -- he read them, ya'll!! He read them. One of his teachers said within the last few months that he's also ready for early math concepts. If he follows in his dad's footsteps (what DH knew by the time he was in kindergarten), he will be reading on a college level and doing math on a high school level by kindergarten. I requested a few books on parenting gifted children at the library that were on a recommended reading list of the Texas Associated for Gifted Children.

May 11 -
Last week, we came up w/the plan for my husband to be there at playground time (when the majority of the problems were happening) as a visual deterrent. Yesterday when DH arrived, she had already pulled Little Bit to the front office. She said that LB had tried to run out the front door. Then, she seemed to think that was the last word and just walked off. DH waited to talk to her, saying I've seen other kids try to run towards the front door (IE, what's the big deal; you just stop them). She said, "NO, they don't" and then said that the director would be back today and she could decide what to do.

DH and I both went in to talk to the director this morning and tell our side of the story. It seemed the asst. director was holding a grudge and raising the bar unfairly to us. Also, while we could be sympathetic for his afternoon teacher bursting into tears, if having a child throw a puzzle piece at your face makes you cry, maybe you need to be in a different job.

Unfortunately, the director said that he can't move up to the four-year old class (and out of the current three-year old class with the new, young afternoon teacher) because there's no room. She said they were waiting until summer when some of the kids are out of the classroom and there would be room. The director suggested just seeing how Little Bit did on the playground today without DH there. At the end of the day, we talked to her. She said that LB again refused to come when the teacher called; he ran away However, he did not climb to the top of the playset as he has been doing. The new teacher has been freaking out about it, because it seemed like he was going to jump. Of course we don't want him to be hurt either. However, the director said that she talked to district/corporate, and they said if he did it (climbing to the top of the playset and not coming down or listening) again, that maybe he should stay home, because it's a safety issue. I was stunned that she said that, because he didn't even climb to the top of the set today; he was just doing his usual running around and not wanting to go back inside.

DH and I are both unhappy. We said what about the option we have already offered of Michael being here every day at 3:30/playground time to watch or to just take him home for the day to head off any problems. She said we could try that, but just the fact that she basically threw out the idea of kicking him out of school, he thinks she's made up her mind already.

We know that his morning three-year old teacher loves LB, and the four-year old teacher (he's been in there sometimes during the days) loves him a lot. He has some "best friends" among the kids. *sigh*

Edited to add -
We think he was climbing up the playset to freak them out and that he wouldn't jump, too. I think the young, new teacher just hasn't had enough experience yet, and the assistant director was just also too inexperienced at being the go-to person for issues. Of course corporate is going to go right to protecting themselves against a lawsuit and say it's a safety issue.

After a long talk, DH and I are going to be proactive -- we are taking Little Bit down to half days. If afternoon playtime is the issue, then he will just be there for the morning. We are also going to demand a firm date for when he could be moved to the four-year old room.

We will re-evaluate as the whole situation changes (if both I and DH get full-time work, etc). Little Bit will love being able to be home with us. In a few more weeks, the neighborhood pool will be open during the week and not just weekends.

A small update

A few memorable quotes recently from Little Bit --

While watching an episode of Dora about the seasons, Little Bit named the seasons for his dad, "Winter, Spring, Fall, and hot." (which is oh, so appropriate for Houston).

This evening when he came home after DH and I had finally cleared off both our coffee table and kitchen table of all the various magazines, piles of mail, etc, he asked, "Why is the table clean?"

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While I've been on hiatus from blogging (still no luck on the job front; I just haven't felt like blogging), Little Bit has continued to develop in leaps and bounds. He started asking us what each letter was on books and signs, as they were working on the alphabet at school. Just in the last few months, he's been asking us to show him how to write letters and wanting to practice them. For Valentine's Day, I received my first signed card from Little Bit. He signed the letters of his name all by himself (with just reminding verbally from his Dad what some of them looked like.)

I can't believe that in just a few months I'll have a four year old. How did that happen?! He's still struggling with dealing with frustrations when he tries to do something, and it doesn't work or when we tell him no. Such big emotions in such a small body. For a long time, we've been trying to get him to stop throwing things on the floor when he gets angry. Just recently, he started throwing himself on the floor instead! Small victories, I guess.

Long time no talk

There have obviously been lots of changes in the last month. I was very sad to have to turn in my NASA badge. My last day at work was October 2nd. I've been job-hunting and networking. So far, I've had two phone interviews from HR folks. The one job wasn't a good fit, but the other could be. Hopefully, I'll hear back from the hiring manager. Through my contacts I know I'm still in the running for another job that's an awesome fit, however, there is talk they may go with someone they were already considering before I applied. At the end of last week another job posting came up which would be a good fit. I applied. (fingers crossed)

The biggest thing with Little Bit lately is trying to get potty training. He just resists peeing on the potty at home. He won't tell us if he's pooped in his pull-ups either, even if we ask him directly. Last week we bought 10 pairs of cheap sweat pants and "big boy" underwear and put him in them except for nap or bedtime. He just held his pee as long as he could at daycare. By the end of the week, he was peeing in the potty all day, but had a poop accident in the afternoon. Still at home, he would just stand there looking at us and pee in his pants, so we had pee puddles on the floor and our rug. On Friday night and Saturday, he pooped in his pants another 3 times!!@ With the 4th pair of poopy underwear, DH and I were done. I put him in a pull-up at the end of the yesterday.

It seems he's just not ready to do this (at least at home) for whatever reason. We'll keep trying to send him to school in underwear, and talk up being a big boy and being able to move up to the 4-year old classroom once he's completely out of pull-ups. (Not having to buy pull-ups would certainly help our budget!)

On the lighter side of things, Little Bit dressed as Superman for Halloween. Too cute! He loved being a superhero! I bought butterfly wings to wear around while we took him trick-or-treating. DH bought some awesome real feather angel wings. Little Bit proudly told everyone that I was a butterfly and his dad was "an eagle".

I was going to write a post about the exciting things Little Bit is doing -- yesterday he learned how to trace his blocks and his hand really well. He also drew a very nice smiling face with representative legs and arms (an advanced drawing skill). The biggest thing happened earlier today. DH walked into his classroom at daycare to pick him up for the afternoon. Little Bit was playing with wooden letters by himself. That's when DH noticed that Little Bit had spelled out his nickname with the letters, all by himself!! I had shown him how to spell it the other week in writing; he remembered. I got a little teary-eyed when DH told me, because, that's my bayh-beee!!! He's only 3 years and 3 months old.

That was going to be my post, maybe going on about the excitement and awesome prospect of raising this gifted little boy. However, my manager pulled me into his office at the end of my work day today. Our departmental 2010 budget has been cut. I got the short straw. The 2010 fiscal year begins in less than 2 weeks at the beginning of October. They will try to find me another position on the contract, but if not...I'm out of a job. I feel like I've been sucker-punched. I'm the primary breadwinner right now. I don't even want to think about how much COBRA health care coverage will cost us if I'm unemployed in a few weeks.

Fabulous Friday

You have to check out this post from The Bloggess -- Tim Gunn, Iron Man, the Wienermobile, and a video of a cat taking a shower. What more could you ask for? The kitty in the video reminds me of our dearly departed kitty. He didn't take showers, but I sure do miss him sometimes.

Also, I want to have lunch with Tim Gunn! We could totally go shopping afterward with the $25,000 winnings.
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Last week, Little Bit was coloring a sheet with drawings of various farm animals. He started asking me what the animals were, like he was my teacher. As I answered correctly, he said, "Good," and wrote down a scribble like he was taking notes. After he had gone through all of the animals, he started going back over his scribbles, like he was adding up my score! He's only three, ya'll.

Politically Incorrect

Little Bit learns so much at daycare - songs, counting, ABCs, sharing, etc. Unfortunately, that learning includes things that we don't want him to learn. I'm beginning to see why some parents choose to homeschool. There are lots of good things about his daycare. The problem is one or two of the children in his class who act up. Several of the "lovely" things he has learned include:

1. pointing a stick-like object at me (or his dad) and saying, "You're dead. Ha ha ha ha." The laugh is a fake laugh that particularly grates on my nerves.

2. doing something he's not supposed to do (like yesterday, throwing a pillow directly at my face), then saying, "I was jus' kidding."

and, 3. in general, he's started getting an attitude sometimes where I get flash forwards of him as a teenager.

When I was young, I tested as "gifted" at a fairly young age. From fourth grade on through high school, I was in the separate gifted program classes. We moved at a faster pace and had many more hands-on and field trip activities. Maybe it's snobbery, but I was glad to not have to deal with the lowest common denominator in the regular classes who only wanted to cause trouble in class. DH and I and our pediatrician suspect that Little Bit will test as "gifted"; he's already show some signs. Part of me looks forward to getting him into the gifted programs where he will be surrounded by other bright, inquisitive children who want to learn.

Fabulous Friday

In honor of the premiere of "Project Runway" last night...