Brave

Sometimes Laci is too clingy too me and doesn't want to do things by herself without me.  Sometimes she surprises me.  Last night was movie night at school.  I forgot about it.  But when I picked her up, she reminded me it was movie night.  But last night it was for kids only.  I asked if she wanted to go by herself.  She said she would think about it.  It was 5:10 at this point and movie night started at 6 so she needed to think quickly.  She decided to go.  We quickly had dinner at Taco Bell and headed over to the school to drop her off.  As we pulled up, I whispered to Charlie to not be surprised if we both walked back out.  But she did great.  I signed her in, helped her with the coat and she walked into the dark gym (the movie was about to start) to find a spot on the bleachers all by herself.  And I left.

It was a weird feeling leaving her.  I am still getting used to it.  Charlie, Calvin and I drove around and then went home to watch Bubble Guppies.  Right now Calvin must watch Bubble Guppies 24 hours a day.  :)  I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked her up.  Mass Chaos.  I went into the gym and the movie was just about over.  Kids were screaming and running everywhere.  :)  I'm not sure anyone was watching the movie.  I saw Laci on the bleachers with our neighbor who is in the PTA.  I talked to her and she said Laci did great.  She was really sweet but towards the end said she was ready to go.  I'm so proud of her for going all by herself.  I knew she was nervous but she did great. 

I was also a little nervous because the movie, ironically was Brave.  I hadn't let her watch that movie yet because I had heard it was a little scary.  I wasn't sure how she would do by herself if she got scared.  On the way home I told her I was proud of her for going.  She said she was glad she made a decision.  Sometimes she struggles with choices and decisions.  Later I asked her if she wanted the movie Brave for Christmas.  I laughed when she said "no, it was too dark."  :)

The Prince of Egypt - The Play

We rented The Prince of Egypt this week from the library. Laci and I have watched it a few times this week. One night I told her we were only going to watch half but when we got to the halfway point, I was glad it was a short movie because I realized I couldn't stop it. It is a pretty dark beginning and it was not a happy spot to stop it at. I love watching Biblical movies with Laci and try to use it as a way to teach her. The Old Testament is full of the great superheroes of the Bible. But it really had me thinking. And reminded me that I have a daughter that doesn't miss any details. In the last few nights we have talked about a lot of dark subjects - jealousy, anger, selling people into slavery, slavery, jail, difference in ethnic groups, famine, faith in God during the hard times and the one that really threw me was having to explain plural marriage and why Joseph and his brothers had different mothers. I hope she got the faith point out of the movie.

 

I could still hear her talking last night long after she was supposed to be asleep.  I went to tell her to go to sleep. She had her bears and stuffed animals all lined up on the bed. She explained that she was doing the movie we just watched. I asked her what part she was at. She said she was just handing out the roles. She showed me Joseph, his wife, his mom and dad and three brothers (she couldn't find 11 boy bears). I wish it wasn't so late or I would have asked to watch the play. :) I love her creativity.

It's me... Laci

The last few nights that Laci has said the prayer before dinner have been so cute.  She tends to wander in her prayers and I usually have to remind her to thank God for the food.  But she lists her family to pray for.  One night she was direct and used our first names but I love how she includes herself.  "Thank you for Daddy, Mommy, Calvin and Laci...  That's me... The one whose talking... " I always laugh in my head and remind her that God knows who she is.  

Building Friendships

We got a note from Laci's teacher yesterday saying that she would like her to be in a small group with the school counselor called "Building Friendships".  The note said that she knows Laci can be a good friend but thinks maybe this group would help her make friends.  I hope it does.

I  was surprised by my reaction to the suggestion.  My first thought was "why does Laci need special help?"  It almost bothered me.  But then I remembered someone telling me about someone's reaction to speech therapy.  Lots of kids use it.  It's not a big deal.  But she knew someone that refused to let her son go to speech therapy.  She didn't want him singled out.  As a child, she did not like speech therapy and she didn't want her son going.  So she had her son switch schools.  That always stuck with me.

I don't want to be that mother and doesn't let her child get the support she needs and use the resources the school is providing.  This is a little thing and not a big deal.  But I will still wonder.  Is it because she is younger than the other kids?  Or just shy?  I was very shy too as a child and it took years for me to break out of my shell.  Laci will find her way too and she will find her friends. 

Parent Teacher Conference

We had our first parent teacher conference with Laci's teacher last week. I'm sure after awhile, it will become old hat but I was looking forward to this first one. I was curious to hear how Laci was doing, especially since we were concerned about her going to school young. I was also concerned about how she interacted with friends. Laci has commented that no one will play with her and she doesn't have any friends. It is hard to hear her say that but without being there, I didn't know what the situation was. In a nut shell, the conference went like this: Laci talks too much when she is not supposed to and doesn't talk enough when she is supposed to.

 

Her teacher started by saying how bright she is. Smart teacher - flattery goes far with me. She is at the reading level expected at the end of the year. Her math skills aren't quite as high as her reading but she is still doing well. She writes very well.  But she is a little more immature than the other kids. That was hard for me to hear. I think my child is perfect - but I am a bit bias. Laci's biggest issue is that she craves and demands attention. At her daycare, she was always able to get it from the teachers there. But with a large class and one teacher, they can't do that with each student. I was not surprised by that comment because I had the same concern. It took her teacher several weeks to get Laci to calm down a little bit in that regard. Laci is a "teacher's pet" and loves answering questions. But way too much. Her teacher has been working with her to not get upset for not being called on and for not shouting out answers. We have also talked to her a lot about the importance of letting other kids answer questions too.

 

Unfortunately, Laci's comments about friends were right. Laci is having trouble adjusting with the other kids. She would rather stand with her teacher at recess than play with the other kids. Every day I ask her who she plays with and if she says nobody, I remind her to go up to the other girls and ask to play with them. If they say no, she needs to try with another group. It's very hard to hear your child struggle but I know that this is part of life and I can't help her through it. I need to let her work it out. She mentions playing with the boys and even her teacher said that the boys are more open to let her play with them. We have even added watching Ninjago and Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles into our tv watching rotation. Sometimes I think she is "studying" to play with the boys at school. She has even asked for Batman and Hotwheels race tracks for Christmas. I have no problem with her playing with the boys stuff but I hope that it is because she genuinely enjoys it and not because she is just trying to fit in.

 

Laci also talks about the kids at her before and after school program a lot. I am not sure how well she is received there. I hope she is fitting in well there. She seems to be. It is a smaller group and more social time. There are only a few kindergartens in the program and Laci has always liked older kids more than kids her own age.

 

All and all, it was a good conference.   We left the kids at home with the neighbor babysitting. I figured Calvin would be hard to contain at the conference and it was easier to leave them at home. Even though Laci had been so excited for the neighbor to come over, she cried when we left. A few minutes after we left, Calvin started crying and didn't stop for an hour until we were almost home. I felt bad for the sitter. I asked Laci if she calmed down quickly and she said yes because Calvin was crying and she didn't want it to be too hard on the sitter. I thought that was oddly thoughtful. We don't use a sitter often so we try to pay well so hopefully she will still come back to sit for us. :)

Bedtime Battles... Almost finished

I am not ready to declare the bedtime battles over.  But by golly, they are so much better.  Laci was a great sleeper as a baby.  When she hit two, the bedtime ritual got a little bit longer and we started to rock a few minutes at night.  When she was two and a half, she moved bedrooms and got a big girl bed.  All heck broke loose at that point.  The battles began.  It was ugly.  For two and a half years, it was ugly.  It could be up to a two hour battle.  I can't say I always won the battle.  One of our struggles was that at daycare, she still took naps.  When she was approaching 5, she did not need naps every day.  Because she was napping, she didn't need to go to sleep early.  But I still needed her to go to sleep early.  I needed some me time.  Plus she needed to get up early for school.  It seemed like everyone else in the world had no problems with bedtime.  I usually am able to talk to my friends about our parenting problems but this one I hated talking about.  It seemed like no one could relate.  My only hope was Saturday and Sunday when she didn't have a nap.

Then kindergarten came.  I had high hopes for the magical age of 5.  It has not let me down.  She's not perfect and we still have our battles.  But I see more glimmers of maturity.  We have a really good bedtime routine.  She watched tv and plays from 7:30 - 8:30.  We read 2 books.  Then I tuck her in while she plays with her stuffed animals.  A few minutes later, she is asleep.  This is how bedtime is supposed to be.  This is what others have been talking about all this time.  It's wonderful.  Sometimes I need to go in there a few times to remind her to go to sleep.  But overall there is peace.  :)  On the weekends, she is even sleeping in until 7 or 8 am.  It's nice.

I love watching her tuck in her stuffed animals.  She has 25 (we counted) on her bed at all times and she knows exactly which ones are missing. 

We're moving Calvin over to a new room and big boy bed in a few months.  I hope that his transition goes better than Laci's.  We don't rock him to sleep now and he still goes to sleep on his own by himself so I am very hopeful and optimistic.  But on the bright side, he'll be five in just two and a half short years too!

Conquering the bike... again

For Christmas, Charlie's parents gave Laci a new bike.  We weren't sure what size bike she needed.  I didn't want to get her a bike that was too small because we would just be replacing it in a few years.  She is so tall, I figured a wee bit bigger would be better than too small.  I was wrong.  It was too big.  She couldn't ride it, even with the training wheels.  The only time she would ride it is if we were taking a family walk and I could walk right next to her, holding her up.  i looked like I was walking a pony.  For most of the summer she rode her tiny bike.  The bike was getting tinier all the time.  But she could ride it fine.  

 

Last night it was a beautiful, warm fall evening.  It rained most of the day but after dinner it was dry and warm.  We decided to go for a family walk and Laci wanted to take her big bike.  I stood along side her prepared to catch her.  But she just took off and didn't need any help at all!  Away she went.  She did fall once but got right back up and took off again.  It was wonderful to see.  I was so proud of her.  I am most proud of her ability to fall and get back up.  That skill will help in her life.  As she rode, I reminded her how important practicing things are and how proud of herself she is when she finally gets it.  Our next challenge is riding without training wheels next summer.  She said she is willing to do that but only on the small bike.  Next summer is a long ways off so I think she may be ready for the training wheels off the big bike too. 

When we got home, the kids played in the leaves... next door.  No one leaves there and there were tons of pretty leaves to jump in.  I wish I had my camera because they were pretty cute in the leaves.