Find Out What Jen Finds

BELIEVE

• 26 August 2008 10:22 pm
• 19 Comments: Share what YOU found, too!

Last night we went to the dollar theatre (well…the four-dollar theatre). When The Hub asked what I wanted to watch, he gave me the choice of 3. I chose Kung-Fu Panda to see if it was kid-friendly since the Elder wanted Kung-Fu underwear without ever having seen the movie. I think there was a trailer in one of the movies we watched for family movie night. There was a behind the scenes with Jack Black too. Looked so-so.

Well, I was wrong. It was an AWESOME movie with an AWESOME moral. I want to quote it but don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it. No, it wasn’t a kid-friendly movie. But I will make them watch it once The Kiddos turn 18. Just kidding.

The major theme is to BELIEVE. To believe in others…to believe in yourself…to believe in the possibilities.

I.Loved.This.Movie.

(other than the fighting – Everybody was kung-fu fighting…)

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So today I pick up The Elder from Kindergarten. It’s his 2nd day going full-time with all 20 students.

He is doing so well despite what happened the first staggered day. He got a warning for not following directions and had to pull a “yellow” card and sit out 5 minutes on the playground, but I think was all it took. A teacher (with a great reputation) who told him from the start who was dealing the cards. Over that weekend, he was being defiant and not following directions with me.

Me: You know, at Kindergarten, you would have to pull a yellow card for that.
The Elder: Oh, _{(pauses to digest how in the world I could know that)} I wouldn’t do that at Kindergarten.

Mouth hanging open at his blatant manipulation. He is smart enough to know when and where to behave but not smart enough yet to know that he is not supposed to divulge that kind of information to me.

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Last Friday _{(the second and last staggered day)} The Asst sent me a text msg saying,

The Asst: Hope today goes well!
Me: It will!

I knew if I believed that, it was more likely to be true. I was physically ill the day before and that whole day. It wasn’t because I was afraid of his behavior (entirely) but it was because of the paperwork of excused and unexcused absences, tardiness, PE requirements, grades, etc.

When I picked him up, The K Teacher walked him to the car and told me he had a good day. Yay! Once in the car, I asked him,

Me: So, what did you do in school today?
The Elder: Nuh-fing.

The Gma used to tell us stories all the time about when The Hub was younger how he would do the same thing:

The Gma: So, what did you do in school today?
The lil Hub: Nuh-fing.
The Gma: Did you do math?
The lil Hub: Yes.
The Gma: Did you read?
The lil Hub: Yes.
The Gma: Did you have music?
The lil Hub: Yes. _{(a little annoyed)}

That was the only way she could talk to him in order to find out what he did at school. (Funny, I still talk to The Hub that way at times to get information out of him!)

So I’m recalling that story when he says this, but I said nothing to The Elder afterward. About a mile later, The Elder starts telling me things:

The Elder: I was the line leader today.
Me: You were?
The Elder: Yes, I was the line leader TWICE.
Me: Twice?
The Elder: Yes, I was the line leader to where we eat and when we come back to where we are.
Me: In the lunchroom?
The Elder: No, the cafer-teria.
Me: Oh.
The Elder: Yeah, I was the line leader to the slivel…silvel…sliver…silvler…
Me: Silver?
The Elder: Yes, the silver line. I went to the siillllvveeerrr line and stop at the green door.
Me: Wow. Good Job

My conclusion was, if I don’t ask then, he won’t tell. But if I DO ask, he won’t tell me right away. He wants to tell me but his first response is ‘nothing’ until he can gather his thoughts together to be able to form an answer.

The Elder: Mommy…I got a bluuue card. _{(the handbook didn’t say anything about a blue card)}
Me:What does that mean?
The Elder: Great!
Me: Good Job, I’m so proud of you!

———————————————————————-
Then yesterday, the first FULL day with all the students, before he left, I was freaking out because at 7am he was still asleep (and me too which is why I was freaking out). The bus picks up at 7:30 and if he didn’t make the bus we wouldn’t be able to get him to school on time. My heart was pounding. I decided that we needed to have a visual routine for him. If we have that then he will stick to it. So on his way out to get loaded on the bus, I tell him,

Me: I can’t wait for you to tell me you got a blue card today when I pick you up!
The Elder: OK.

That whole “what you think about you bring about” concept. So I brought The AP yesterday so she would know how to pick him up. I got the thumbs up sign from The K Teacher so I was feeling really good and a lot more relaxed.

Me: So what did you do in school today?
The Elder: Nuh-fing.
Me: Were ALL your new friends there?
The Elder: Yes! Twenty of them! There’s 20.
Me: Wow. What are there names?
The Elder: I can’t know how to say their names. I can’t know all uv’em. _(shrugging)
Me: Well you have plenty of time to learn them.
The Elder: I can’t know how to tie my shoes.
Me: Would you like for me to teach you how to tie your shoes.
_{(I got him new shoes for $2 (Stride Rites) at a consignment over the weekend because his feet grow so dang fast. They were the only size 11.5 there so I snagged them. When I got home, I realized that they had shoestrings. He has always had velcro or crocs or slip-on sandals.)}
The Elder: I can’t know how to close my pants.
_{(He’s also outgrowing his jeans…sigh…)}

And…and…and…he got another blue card!

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So today it was pouring rain and we implemented the new morning routine. It is very visual and educational! He did great with it. He kept asking “what was next on the clock.”

When I went to go get him (I’m so grateful for pick-up lines. We always had to go inside to get our kids at preschool even in the rain), it was cute to see him in his raincoat and then at the face he was making with his tongue spazzing out because of his sensory reaction to the rain on his face. I had to pull up to let him buckle himself in because yesterday I was “scolded” for holding up the line. (I just hate teaching the kids that it is ok to be in a moving vehicle without a seatbelt, no matter how slow we are driving.) Well he wanted to take his wet jacket off first so I was helping him. He saw the playground out of the corner of his eye and said,

The Elder: You see that, Mommy?
Me: See what?
The Elder: That fing
Me: I see! It’s the playground.
The Elder: We didn’t go there today at Kindergarten
Me: Because of the rain?
The Elder: Yes. We did centers. I played with cars and trains. _{(surprise, surprise)}
Me: Did you play by yourself or did you share nicely.
The Elder: There’s just 5 of them at each center
Me: You shared with 5 of your friends?
The Elder: Yes _{(and then he started jabbering about what they were playing with them, but I didn’t catch it all in order to be able to record it here)}
Me: What were there names?
The Elder: I told you…I can’t know them all yet.

Oh yeah, I forgot I told you that you had plenty of time. So after I settled down after trying to get a wet raincoat off a hyperactive child (it was the pullover kind – we figured he’d stay drier that way), I pulled out and got on the road, and realized that he offered all that information on his own. I did no prompting for him to tell me what he did in school. I didn’t do it on purpose. I was on the speaker phone with The Neighbor and trying to get moving that I hadn’t had a chance to even ask. Wow. My baby is growing up. Shoestrings…highwaters…initiating conversation…who could ask for anything more. (Well, maybe not the highwaters. I’m gonna have to get those adjustable waistband pant because he is so skinny, but his legs are so long.)

Then on the way home, I asked what color was his card today and he didn’t get a blue card because I think they are doing I different reward system. The behavior marbles. My S/L Friend told me about this and actually gave me a slew of marbles but I never took them out on account of The Younger and his need to seek out choking hazards.

The Elder: When you follow the rules, you get a marble. And when it go alllll the way to the top, you get a prize.
Me: Do you put them in a jar?
The Elder: Yes! and when you get allll of dem, you win!
Me: So it’s kinda like the tickets you earn at home.
The Elder: No..they’re round. _{(lol, so literal!)}
Me: I mean it is the same idea. You earn tickets to get a prize just like you earn marbles.
The Elder: Oh. _(pause) Um, Mommy? Can I get my prize? I want that.
Me: What prize? I don’t know what you are earning at Kindergarten.
The Elder: I mean my Batter Batter Baseball.

So he got 2 tickets for his smiley faces from yesterday and today! He was so proud of himself. He finally gets it. I always knew that he was capable and able, but maybe I never believed it. I mean I did freak out when I found out he was going to Kindergarten. I was caught off-guard but what’s more was that I was afraid of his behavior with 20 kids in the same room as him when he is having a ‘moment’. I confided in The Teacher and she told me to start thinking the opposite because he can sense it and will act accordingly. I assured her that I always tell him that he can do something, be something, have something if he tries and puts enough effort to get him there. But I wonder if a small hint of uncertainty leaked out without my knowing but he sensed it.

———————————————————————-
The Kiddos are watching The Iron Giant right now and I just heard Dean telling Hogart,

“Why do you care what those guys think? You ARE who you CHOOSE to BE.”

Wow, what a cool theme this post turned out to have. Well, I’ll close with a recording that I made of The Elder and The Younger as I was trying to get him to say “Mommy, Pick me up from Kindergarten” that I could use as a ringtone for that alarm. We got lots of crazy recordings but this is the only one that successfully converted to an mp3. Enjoy!

EIMEO Ringtone – Time to Pick Me Up from Kindergarten

Related posts:

1. First Parent/Teacher Conference
2. Being sick stinks…but at least I got caught up on sleep
3. Conversation

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  • R yan McDonald,
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