Wow, my last post was April 8th! I'm shocked but not. Life has been so very tough for Team Stone. Like, Super Tough. Hoot had started preschool around March 15th. Last week, we removed him from his old school. Poor Hoot. He could be a poster child for what Preschools should not do. As a parent, I am ashamed that I allowed it to continue for as long as it did. Honestly, I just didn't know better. Looking back, I should have seen the signs.
On his first day, I had to go get him. Sure. Happens to a lot of preschoolers. But, here's what really went down. Daddy walked in with Hoot and it took several minutes before the "teacher" acknowledged them and showed Daddy where to put Hoot's nap mat, blankie, and pillow. Daddy gave Hoot a hug and left. "Teacher" never bothered to introduce herself or talk to Hoot about the rules. He immediately began to move a play stove so that it was next to the sink. "Teacher" tried to put him in time out. Meltdown.
We went half days the rest of the week. Then all day the next. Then, he got a new "Teacher" and we learned that this was the real teacher (yes, she was the one we met when we toured the school). From there, we had so many meltdowns. And I began to really watch. He was in the office every single day. They would knee jerk timeout for every tiny infraction, and not just with my kid. And they would pounce you on Fridays with every tiny detail.
Then, we had another new "Teacher" at the beginning of May and that's when the nightmares began. And we had the hair incident....
I received a call that I had to come and get Hoot. He had cut a "hunk" of hair off of a little girls head. Now, cutting hair is a bad thing to do. I will never deny that. But, I had to totally rearrange other manager's schedules to get my shift covered. Then, when I got there, I was shown the "hunk" of hair. Well, as I'm posting, I'm listening to my Ipod. The cord on my ear buds are about twice as thick as the "hunk" of hair. Really? And seriously, isn't this the teacher's fault? Where was she? Again, not denying guilt, just questioning the environment.
When I went to pick up Hoot for the hair incident. I asked the owner/administrator if she thought this was going to work out. She said she honestly didn't know. Not the right answer. You really just said you don't have faith in my child. I began shopping for schools again the next day.
Then, I found the Jellyfish. Really, they had been my first choice all along, but they NEVER have openings. They are a hippy momma chain based out of Austin. They are so wonderful and optimistic that I cried when I signed him up. But, I had to wait until the beginning of June. Surely we could make it one more month.
Right?
But, time out wasn't working at home anymore. TV banning and rewards/punishments with video games were DESTROYING my family. I didn't even want to go get my child from preschool because I was tired of being beaten down.
The next week, Hoot was sent home for peeing on the playground. Um, yeah, again not right, but boys do that. Really, on some level they don't really grow out of that. And, it all went downhill from there. Yeah, I didn't know we could go any lower. We did.
Every single night, we had nightmares or night terrors. The night terrors were the worst with the thrashing and screaming and hitting. As they occur outside of the REM cycle that nightmares occur in, he didn't remember them and you had to wake him up to break the cycle. Not an easy task. Like waking a sleepwalker.
Every meal was a battle. Every morning a fight. Every night sleepless. Our household was riddled with landmines and pitfalls.
Then, I had six days of vacation. I kept Hoot at home and you know what? After four nights, no more nightmares or night terrors. And, after a few days, he was a delight to be around. Really, he was a great kid.
But, he had three more days of the old school left between my days off and the new school.
We could make it three more days, right? Just three days.
No. On Wednesday, he had a really rough day with another kid that had been one of his big problems in the fighting category. (This kid's name came up in our screaming nightmares most of the time.)
On Thursday, I received a call to talk to Hoot on the phone as he had been in trouble again. The ***** in the office was super nasty to me and we had a few words on the phone. I had absolutely no one to take Hoot for me. When Daddy arrived to pick him up that evening, he was on the bottom of a dogpile being hit and punched by other kids. He came home with a giant goose egg on his forehead, a gouge out of his neck, his brand new shirt from Tee had its neck stretched out beyond wearing, and bruises up and down his legs. It is such a good thing I didn't go get him. They would've had to take me out of there in cuffs.
Thankfully, Daddy's boss allowed him to work a half day on Friday and Hoot never went back.
On Monday, we became Jellyfish together. Hoot and I went around 10 am and stayed with the class for an hour and a half. It was awesome. We explored the room together and set down some boundaries. We learned where his cubby was and met everyone. It was awesome. There is even a kid that matches Hoot's height! Yeah! He's not the only "giant" in class. Before we left, Hoot told me, "Momma, you go home! I'm gonna stay!" But, we had a lunch date so he came home with me.
Tuesday was his first day. He was excited and nervous, heck, so was I! But, he showed no anxiety at me leaving. When Daddy picked him up from school, the teacher said it was a great day. Now, I'm sure it wasn't crime free. Heck, sharing and rules are what preschool is about! And the other kids tried to rat him out to Daddy, but Daddy knows to listen to the teacher.
Same story today! Again, I'm sure he did something naughty. But, this school gets that. It gets kids. It knows that kids are what you think they are. If you think they are monsters, they will be monsters. If you keep a positive winning attitude, you will get positive winners.
I had a lovely dinner tonight with a positive winner. He was polite, talkative, and, when dinner was over, he put all our plates in the sink without having to be asked. At bedtime, Team Stone gathered for story time on the big bed and had a great time. No fights. No sass. No stress.
I'm gonna love this Jellyfish thing.
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