P has been having some trouble at preschool lately. He is one of the younger kids there, and perhaps not as articulate, so sometimes to get attention he was throwing things or being silly… or worse. There was even a biting incident. Eek.
We had our “parent-teacher” meeting where all this was discussed, and I admit to being quite surprised. He’s a lot of things, but he’s never been a rough’n’tumble kid, nor very aggressive. I have to say, it’s incredibly difficult to hear your child described through someone else’s eyes without the reverence and qualifications that come from loved ones and those who know him well.
Although it took me aback, once it was raised with me, I did start to see some of those behaviours – bonking a friend, throwing stuff at a coffee shop when he got bored, being a bit “too” loving with his sister to get attention. So we’ve been doing a lot of reading of books like Hands are not for hitting or When I Feel Angry.
Whether as a result of this reading, or of some other inevitable cognitive leap, in the last few days P has been talking a lot more about feelings.
“Its hurts my feelings when you…”
“I am feeling a little bit cranky because…”
“I am worried about…”
It’s amazing to hear him explain his behaviour. I love it.
And M, M is hitting that delightful stage where she imitates us. She sees her shoes somewhere and tries to put them on. She watches P play with his train set and then tries to fit two pieces together. She is always piling things into containers and then taking them out again.
She is now really and truly crawling and motoring from room to room. I guess she started crawling about a month or six weeks ago, but she’s been reluctant to really go the distance until the last few days. She is still not keen on pulling herself up on anything, but she does a lot of downward dog.
Sadly, she’s been horribly snot-nosed since she started daycare and also got two new teeth, so she’s been uncharacteristically cranky the last couple of days. But overall she’s such a happy snugglebug. I love having her crawl over just to be near me.
Beautiful children!