Manual Not Included

When It All Comes TogetherPosted by Kara on January 9th, 2013

Since the boy got with the program with our smiley face system, he’s become a rock star! I used to get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I’d get close to his daycare when picking him up, dreading a bad report. But now I expect a good report and am stunned by a bad report. The smiley face system has ironed out the kinks he was having at school, and he’s been getting 7 smileys each week! The requirement is that he get 6 smiley faces a week (because everyone has a bad day once in a while) to get a reward at the end of the week, but he’s been earning 7 smileys, not even using his mulligan! We keep a tally of his smiley faces/frowny faces on his dry erase board, and we make a new mark each night. He stands beside me as I write on the board and that gives me on opportunity to discuss what behaviors earned him the smiley face or frowny face. If he earns a frowny face, we change the pig’s smile to frown, and it stays that way until he earns another smiley face. That really bothers him for some reason. Kids are weird.

Jim-Jim and I tried out a new indoor playground last week, and as we were leaving to come back home, he headed to the water fountain to get a sip of water before walking out to the car. It was obvious he was heading toward the water fountain when a 2-year-old girl cut him off. I was about 10 steps behind him as the situation unfolded, and I cringed as I realized what was happening because I was too far back to mitigate the situation. Jim-Jim is so very competitive, and he has a strong drive to be first, even if it’s being first in line to get water. The horrified mom scolded the girl to let Jim-Jim go first. Jim-Jim stopped in his tracks, glanced at the mom, looked back at the young girl, and realized what was happening. Our boy grabbed the small girl’s hand and said in his best falsetto, “C’mon little girl, would you like to get some water?” He led her to the water fountain, and he pushed the button so she could drink. My stomach returned from my throat to it’s rightful place in my belly, and that’s when I realized everything we’ve been working for is showing in our son’s character. I was never more proud of our boy than I was in that moment!