My Expelled Son

I'm a teacher. I've taken all kinds of courses in child development, learned various strategies in classroom management, etc. I even have a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership! Wouldn't you think that I could get one very small three year old child to do what I wanted him to do???? Of course not!

This has taken me a week to write about, because up until now, I couldn't even THINK about this without crying. Last Friday, just as I was walking into a meeting with the rest of my History team, my cell phone rings. Uh oh! Everyone knows I'm at school and to email if they need to get a hold of me. It must be an emergency--Trey's school will call my school number so it has to be Kyle. Hello? Hi Robin. This is Patrick at -----. I have your son in the office with me. He's throwing a fit and is hurting the other children. We feel you need to find another day care for him to attend, because he can't come back here....try a small home center, blah, blah, blah! Wait a minute! You're kicking my son out of PRESCHOOL?????? He's being kicked out of school at THREE YEARS OLD???? What did he do? He head butted a little girl because she wouldn't stop crying and it hurt his ears! OMGOSH! Where did he learn to do that??? I was so humiliated--all I could do all day was cry. To be fair, they had warned me the week before (his first week of school!) that he was having problems adjusting and that preschool may not be what's best for him. But we talked and I explained that he had never been in a day care situation and he needed to learn to share, and to play w/ other kids, etc., and he couldn't do that if I had him w/ a babysitter by himself. That's where he's been for the past three years and thaty's WHY he's so spoiled now. So they agreed to give him a chance. Well, the following week, he missed the first 2 days because he had strep, and then the next two days were good days, so I really wasn't expecting that call. So I spent the rest of that day trying to find a place for him to go starting this Monday.

Luckily I hit upon a WONDERFUL one on the first try....Kyle is HAPPY there---he waves good bye and skedaddles to his room before I can even get him checked in. The last one---he clung to my pant leg and I had to peel him off of me to leave. At the old one, he refused to do circle time, or any papers, or to sit down to listen to stories. Now, he takes books so his teacher can read them--SHARING them w/ the other kids!!!! I have pictures that he's colored all over my refrigerator and cabinets, and he's a totally different child!!!

When I try to talk to him about his first experience, he gets a closed off look on his face and changes the subject. If he talks about his new school, he's animated and tells me all about it!

Yesterday my baby started Preschool!!!

Wow! It's amazing that he's old enough to start school already! What a special little boy he is and so excited about going to his new "big-boy" school just like his big brother!

Yesterday, I woke him up and told him it was time to get ready for school---LOL he was out of that bed IMMEDIATELY! He got dressed and I fixed his breakfast (2 waffles and a glass of milk). After he finished (which took him a little while because he was so excited and kept getting down from the table to see what I was packing in his backpack), he went to wash his sticky hands and brush his teeth. He obviously looked in the mirror while he was cleaning up, because all of a sudden he came running through the house yelling "Mommmmmmmmm!!!" When he got back to the kitchen where I was, he said , "my hair is sticking up!" so off we went to my bathrrom where I put some no more tangtles spray on it to get it to lay down! LOL Everything had to be PERFECT for his first day. Before we left, he wanted his picture taken so I got a couple of pictures of him and then it was off to school.

When we got there, we went to his class, hung up his backpack and put his blankie and pillow in his cubby. He went straight for the Legos, but the rest of the kids were coloring and working on their letters, so I told him he needed to join the others. His teacher, Ms. Joanna, who had also been Trey's teacher, siad, "Kyle we're learning a new letter today..come join us." Kyle's answer: "Mom, I KNOW that's a U and it stands for umbrella. That's a picture of an umbrella. So now can I play with the trains?" I told himhe needed to color a picture to put on my new refrigerator, so he sat down and started working.

He apparently had a very good day, except he wouldn't eat any lunch. Wish he wasn't such a picky eater! I love how excited he is about school--it makes it so much easier to leave him in the morning.