We haven't heard of any additional hitting/kicking/pushing at school. DH did talk with the teachers and they were less than 100% encouraging, but said they, too, had and would try to help AJ stand up for himself, and that they were obviously separating him from those who give him trouble. They did report that he's one of the most popular kids in the class, which is why the (bigger) girls want to hang on and hug him, and the boys all vie for his attention which leads to roughhousing. So I guess that's good?
Luckily a lot of kids are out this week so I think it's been a lot more quiet in the classroom.
Mandy asked a good question, about whether or not we've considered holding him back a year. ...It's been brought up. A friend of ours did that with his son and I think it piqued my husband's interest. ...I guess I'm proud, and think that he's too smart to be held back -- because he really is. His verbal skills have always been impressive and he's doing great with numbers and reading and all those academic things. But also? I can't afford to pay for another year of daycare. It is sucking us bone-dry. Yes, we plan to put him in Catholic school which isn't free, but a quick calculation says I'll save $4,000 by graduating him from dear old Kids R Kids. THANK GOD.
So. The bullying drama aside, we have time to talk about the tantrum drama.
I feel like we have tried every Correct Way To Punish and Disapprove of Unacceptable Behavior while still being Gentle and Calm, and those ways...? ...are bunk as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes kids are little shitheads. So last night AJ and I had a really big stupid fight about bedtime wherein I got hit with a flashlight. (Yeah. Ow.) So he got that flashlight taken away, and got put to bed, but then kicked and screamed like a banshee and thrashed around upstairs for a good long while, while I attempted to NOT ENGAGE THAT BEHAVIOR (See? Trying to do the right thing)... but then DH had to come in and referee because we kept ON not engaging each other for about 10 minutes, and also fighting and not staying in the bed or the room, and I don't LIKE that DH had to join in at ALL, much less punish his son's rear end four times, but that is the way it had to be, and everything ended swiftly after that. I'm counting on John Rosemond to back us up. It needed to be done.
We made up, all of us, but I hated every minute of it.
6 comments:
Emily and I have had tantrums like that where Sid has had to step in and issue a spanking or two. Makes me furious that I can't seem to handle it myself!
Sorry but that made me laugh. Not funny. Well, Madison, sweet child that she is, is also headstrong and a big fan of the No word. We actually celebrated when we got her to say Yes the other night. So I'm reading your drama with interest and trepidation.
julie - me too.
sdw - It IS funny that they're little shitheads. (Esp the morning after...)
That is very cool that he is "popular"!!!
And that makes sense about not keeping him back .. luckily for us Collin's b-day is two weeks past the age cutoff but also the catholic school has a pre-k program ... but this isnt about Collin .. although we had MAJOR problems last night too ... we have no answers, we have no idea what to do, nothing seems to work ....
..so if anything you guys arent alone ... AND if you figure out the secret us know!!!!
Hey! We did Kids R Kids, too! Bubba is in Kindergarten now so we only have one daycare fee. I'm trying to decide what to do with Punkin next year because she will be a VERY YOUNG 4 when she starts pre-k and I'm not sure she's ready. I could send her to pre-k for free or I could send her to KRK. Still trying to decide. I'll be interested to see what you decide.
Oh, and John Rosemond is a genius!!
Sometimes the thing we don't want to do is exactly what needs to be done. Hopefully things will improve soon.
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