Tatum’s class conference was today, so we headed off for school early this morning. Ms. Chris and Ms. Angie glowed about Tot. She is beyond her years in academics, as I knew. My concern was more social. How was she doing? They said she has NO PROBLEM standing up for herself and not letting others boss her around. Of course, she can be a bit “bossy,” but to them they found that to be a strength. To this mom, I want her to just soften the edges and be stern, fair, and share; but not bossy. All the girls get along swimmingly: Jessica, Eden, Zoe, Eloise, Olivia, and Samantha
Here is her report:
They mentioned her Bible knowledge was exquisite! She loves the stories and always answers the questions. (happy dance)
Letters and numbers all without help. (I love the “W?”)
Tracing…
Proud.
SO, then we met a couple of the girls at the park: Olivia and Eloise. The girls played and played. GIRLS sans the drama! Happy dance again!
The moms? We dished about food prep, what they will and won’t eat, schools and silly quirks from our kids. The basic compare and contrast.
Tot and I spent the rest of the day, just her and me. My kind of thing.
Tatum and I….we are a pair. It’s been a process of storming lately. Lots of emotional outbursts and figuring out WHAT will work to not only calm her down but teach her how to handle her emotions and then how to act out/ or not upon experiencing disappointment or frustration. WE BOTH are learning!
Sometimes, an unkind word will seep out of her mouth. We discussed what to do as a preemptive measure so…..
Today she says:
“I thought about what I was going to say and it was going to be mean, so I took a breath and threw it away! I gave it to Jesus to throw away!!!!” Hooray for Tot.
Now, if we could just work on the crying over unnecessary things. Taking breaths and thinking before speaking works. But so does discussing choices with her. We discuss the choices we make create consequences good and bad. So……. to put it in Tot’s terms, when she begins to whine or get that crying outburst beginning, I look at her and say, “Let’s try again and take a breath…think about what you’re doing….” We talk through it. It’s a process, like I said, but what is happening is our RELATIONSHIP is strengthened through this because the conflicts bring us closer. One thing we do is COMMUNICATE everything out. (sometimes AFTER the situation, but we do process it, pray and move on)
This is the face I like to see; Free and spirited!
This is my Tot who I adore, cherish, and admire. I LOVE YOU SWEET TOT!