About last night....Sept 30th's post

   I couldn't write a post last night. I was raw and emotional from the day.

   It started really bad, with Nixon crying and refusing to go to school. Ultimately I sat down with him and talked to him (and listened). My poor, sweet boy is dealing with what sounds like a bully situation at school...in preschool?!?! For real!
   Mac and I took Nixon to school, and I spoke to his teachers about the situation we face at home (sadly, this is not the first day Nix hasn't wanted to go to school) and what he had told me that morning. Nixon pointed out the child to Mac, who in turn brought it to the teachers attention.
   When we picked him up, the teachers assured us nothing out of the ordinary happened and they saw no inappropriate interactions between Nixon and the other child. It was also mentioned that Nixon sometimes overreacts to some social interactions (example given was Nixon telling a teacher she was mean when a Lego she tossed into a pile, bounced and hit Nixon's arm. The group was sitting on the floor and it was clean up time, and the Lego toss was part of a clean up effort, apparently) and perhaps Nixon is just misinterpreting normal play with bullying. It was also said that Nixon was playing with all the boys yesterday, as they were all chasing each other and "shooting" each other (gun play is not allowed on school grounds and this was quickly discouraged).
   While I'm not totally opposed to listening to that, I've witnessed the child Nixon pointed out mock Nixon in the past. Nixon has a very sweet voice, and has trouble with some pronouncing some words and I heard this child mocking Nixon's voice and speech. Nixon, at the time, laughed it off and walked away that day. It makes me wonder what happened since then.

   I was, and still am, upset over the idea that Nixon is being bullied already. But I'm listening to him, talking about things and helping him deal with this at home, all while letting him know his parents are here for him no matter what. Sometimes I just need to slow down and listen to him instead of reacting to him. Yesterday morning was that day.

Wiping his ass on his own...one sticker earned at a time. Bribery works, y'all!

* Nixon, this morning: Mom, can I have pretzels?
me: You haven't had breakfast yet.
Nixon: *very seriously* Mom, it's okay, no one is here, I can have pretzels now.
me: *laughing* Nixon, the family being here is not why I say no pretzels before breakfast, but that's  a good attempt at logic.
(he did NOT get pretzels for breakfast)

* I haven't been able to brag lately, about Nixon's good behavior because he hasn't really had really awesome behavior. Today, I get to brag!
  We had several places to go this morning and errands that HAD to be done. Nixon was fed and dressed and we were out the door on this rainy, dreary day.
   Post Office? Nixon was great. Stayed where I could see him the whole time I was at the counter (I should explain, our local post office is in the back of a small gift shop, so lots of things for Nixon to look at, but he stayed where I could see him). He was so good, I let him choose a small piece of candy.
   Next stop was the Pharmacy to pick up my meds. The wait was long, and there were several retirees waiting and no one close to my age, let alone Nixon's age. Out comes the PSP and Nixon was good. I got called up, and then told it'd be a bit. So I took Nixon to get a soda for me (I'd left the house and hadn't had any coffee!!) and a bag of pretzels for Nixon. We returned to the waiting area and Nixon sat down, watching his PSP and eating his pretzels as quiet as could be. I was so proud!!

* We're back to another sticker chart for Nixon. It's got 4 chores he needs to do on his own, he gets one sticker for completely each chore. 5 stickers in one chore box gets him a trip to the Toy Basket I have hidden.
   One chore? Wipe his own ass! He got a sticker in that box today! YAY!!

"He's so great at independent play"

* Today was a big day. We checked out the preschool I'd found with hopes Nixon will attend this fall.
   It's great! The curriculum allows for a lot of creativity and imagination play, which I love because that's sorely missing from public schools. He'll be going half-day, 3 days a week. Enough to work on his social skills but not too much to get overwhelmed and not still be excited by school.

   The administrator we met with was very impressed by Nixon's independent play ability. We know he needs work on his social skills, it's part of the reason we're sending him to school, but he's ahead when it comes to playing by himself and enjoying it. He was totally at ease with playing around kids quite older than him without playing with them. It did not phase him at all that he was by himself with new toys.

* We took Nixon for a walk by the river tonight. He took a photo of Mac and I together:

He's got skills, right??