Stuck in the middle with blue

[grammarwoman]

I am tired, y'all. A big part of it is my insistence on sabotaging myself at night -- when I look at the time and it's 11 PM, I should be thinking "Wrap it up!" Instead, I try for one more thing and the next time I look, it's almost midnight.

But then on top of that, there's days like today, where it seems like everyone is getting beaten down. One friend's company is getting shut down, another is getting impossible-to-follow advice from her doc, and this morning I got a call from daycare, asking me to come in for a conference about the Emperor. "Have you thought about seeing a physician?" they ask me, worried that yesterday he hit a friend and today he was running around the room and yelling. "Have you considered that he's an active 4-year-old boy who wants to run around?" I want to scream at them.

I don't want him to get booted from this daycare, because it's been a fabulous experience for him for the most part. He's thriving academically, and his language skills have improved by leaps and bounds since he's moved up to the next class, but his current teachers (as I've complained before) are not my ideal. I'm wondering how it would be received if I were to suggest to them that maybe he would be a better fit in a different class. I'm also pondering if it would be rude to ask them if the teachers were parents themselves, and if they have any experience raising little boys.

I talked to my dad about this a while back, and he rolled his eyes and said that he thought the Emperor was just being a gifted little boy. He suggested I read The Trouble with Boys. Maybe I'll find a copy and bring it with me to the meeting on Friday.

I hate confrontation.

Comments

the Emperors new "teachers"

[leiaorgana-73.livejournal.com]

I love confrontation and i'm itching for a fight with someone i don't mind taking it out on. Can i come?

Re: the Emperors new "teachers"

[grammarwoman]

If you really want to...

Now that I think about it, that would be fairly entertaining to see.

(Man, I wish Miss Lauren still worked there - I wonder if she would have any dish on his current teachers.)

[mrsdrjackson.livejournal.com]

ARGH.

The daycare teacher needs to read some of the current research on ADD/ADHD and small boys. *slaps her* SO MANY boys the Emperor's age are misdiagnosed and have a harder time adjusting when they grow up and get off the meds. I want to take people like her and scream at them. BOYS NEED TO RUN AND PLAY. They are ACTIVE learners people, not passive learners. Maybe if you got off your lazy arse and did a better job teaching there wouldn't be an issue.
*glares*

Sorry for venting all over your entry dear. I hope that you get an advantageous outcome for both you and the Emperor. *hugs*

[grammarwoman]

BOYS NEED TO RUN AND PLAY. They are ACTIVE learners people, not passive learners.

Exactly. This is definitely one of the points I'm going to make.

In my reading, it seems like a lot of schools have had their recesses cut short due to cramming in time on No Child Left Behind nonsense. God, I hope that crap gets shut down soon.

[mrsdrjackson.livejournal.com]

I have a long-held HATE for NCLB. If the current administration keeps that crap around for long I will cry.

[herbivorous.livejournal.com]

Wait, WHAT???

They suggested that you take your son to see A PHYSICIAN because he hit a kid and then ran around?

WhabuHUH?

I have a DISTINCT memories of getting huge chunks of time put aside specifically for Running Around And Yelling when *I* was four and in daycare, and I also have a specific memory of actually BITING one of my friends at that age. If I recall, they washed my mouth out with soap, made me sit in the corner, and then told my mom when she came.

Then again, my daycare was a local affair staffed by older women (all of whom had had their own kids) at a neighborhood rec center, so things were very nonscientific. But something tells me that a bunch of Experienced Moms letting a bunch of kids--I dunno--ACT LIKE FREAKING KIDS probably did me no lasting harm.

I'm sorry that your son's teachers are so freaking stupid.

[grammarwoman]

That's part of the reason I'm so torn - I LOVE the school's academic approach and their tailoring of curriculum to each kid, but I think they lose sight of important things like letting the kids BE kids, not sheeple-in-training.

I really want to ask the teachers if they're parents. I just don't know if that will set me up as a Difficult Parent that they'll feel justified in ignoring my concerns.

[hecateuse.livejournal.com]

Yeeeah. Little kids who sit still politely at their desks for an entire day are the ones who need to be seen by a doctor, IMO. It ain't natural.

That said, (and at the risk of comparing J. to a four-legged animal and offending you), one of the major lessons I've learned from watching the Dog Whisperer is that when a dog is good and tired, they'll be able to sit still and listen. Wound-up bundles of energy OTOH are physically unable to pay attention. If there's another classroom that (for example) has the running-around part in the morning, and the sitting-still part in the afternoon, it might jive better?

[grammarwoman]

If there's another classroom that (for example) has the running-around part in the morning, and the sitting-still part in the afternoon, it might jive better?

A very valid point. I think I will ask if there's any way he could start off with an intensely physical activity. It might benefit the rest of the kids, too.

[dsjones.livejournal.com]

My first thought was, "Oh how inconsiderate of you to have a child that doesn't conform to sitting idly by and not try to express himself!"

I understand to a point that they are probably concerned about other parents getting upset, pulling their kid (equals loss of income) or leading to legal issues (you weren't watching my kid close enough...blah blah blah). When I used to work in daycare, they actually had protocol to deal with such issues. But to jump the bandwagon by pushing the problem onto a medical/physical issue is just plain wrong and irritating. They should find other distractions for him...EVERY parenting article I've read suggests this FIRST for biters, climbers and kids who won't listen/or can't express their frustrations properly just yet.

You'd think in a place that deals with so many kids, they would have realized that each kid is different in their own way. It's a shame they don't want to try to work with him to help him grow, instead, they want to push it off on something else.

Sorry hon, I know this constant battle with daycare is making you go crazy! *hug* You've probably already checked, but is there any other daycare in town that gives the same high level of academics, but perhaps have better interaction with the kids in their charge? (It's sad that, generally, there would have to be a choice between those two things.)

[grammarwoman]

Well, the meeting was this morning, and I'll be doing a write-up about it.

Long story short, we really weren't aware of how aggressive he's being with the other kids, to the point that other parents have mentioned their concerns because their kids are saying things like "[The Emperor] pushed me today!"

Thanks for the *hug*. TGIF, eh?