Avonleah was so excited Clifford was at her school open house and she was so excited to show us her classroom. . .during the tour we learned a few things. Avonleah bragged that her desk was the cleanest in the classroom and when we saw her desk it was clean . . .and by clean I mean completely empty. Apparantly she had been reading secretly during class and so all her desk items were placed in a basket at the front of the room instead of her desk so she could focus a little better. I asked her if she was embarrassed she had to go get her stuff from a basket and she said, . . ."of course not, it helps me focus and I get to get all my wiggles out when I get up!" She is so funny. I love the creative ways her teacher helps her be successful at school and teaches her great coping skills. We have this book called, "It's Hard to be a Verb" and I can't imagine how it must feel to have so much energy inside me and have to hold still for so long. I'm so proud of Avonleah for working so hard because I know it's not easy to keep her impulsivity under control and do all the advanced work required of her.
Those who know Avonleah know that she has a certain propensity to eat non food items, there was that time in preschool when her teacher sent home about how she might not feel so well because she ate some playdough and some glue, or the table we had to get rid of finally because it looked like we owned a pet beaver at her spot, she's had a few crew cut t-shirts that have been miraculously modified to v-necks because they were super yummy, and let's not forget the reason we hide playdough at our house. Yes we've had her tested for Pica and no we don't make a huge deal out of it anymore. If she wants to eat paper and pencils and plastic and parts of her shirt and whatever else then I certainly hope she doesn't get sick but there's not much I can do except encourage appropriate choices, she's old enough to be accountable for her choices. Glue and play dough have always been especially hard for her to control herself around. So when I pulled out of a bag full of 7 completely empty glue sticks from her bag I knew right away that for sure she had eaten all of them somehow secretly during school. Oh boy. . .as a parent there are times when you have to stifle all your laughter and think really hard how to make a teaching moment out of a situation that is beyond anything you ever imagined. What do you say to a seven year old who secretly consumed 7 large size glue sticks? Am I mad that she ate the glue? Heavens no, it's weird, it probably didn't feel so good in the tummy but from further research its completely non toxic. So we instead scheduled a meeting with her teacher and let her come up with options to be accountable for taking community items. . .she was so brave in facing up to her mistake and being accountable. She told her teacher she would come in early for 7 days to serve her classroom in any way the teacher needed and she has also made a list of chores she can do to make the money necessary to buy 7 new glue sticks for her classroom. I hope it at least makes her think about the consequences of actions and teaches her about respecting community property. On the other side. . .oh my goodness have we giggled and laughed, srsly 7 glue sticks, do they really taste that good, should I begin to rethink what I pack in her lunch? She is definitely my child who perpetually makes me think outside the box. . .I'm really grateful she's eating glue sticks instead of being a bully or being defiant. . .hee hee. I love this girl!
No comments:
Post a Comment