No Big Surprises

Today was our parent teacher conference with Ryan's preschool teachers. I'm not really sure what I was expecting going into it. We haven't had the notes home and phone calls about behavior like we did during Wesley's first few months of preschool, but we were not deluding ourselves that he's a little angel at school either. I mean, have you met Ryan?

The conference started off pretty well. We got to see some of his work and were told that he does have a little group of friends that he plays with, which had been one of out concerns. Ryan's teachers told us that he can work and play by himself well and he can follow directions, but...

You knew there was a "but" didn't you?

Apparently our youngest son can be very stubborn at school. If he doesn't want to do something - such as the required large motor skill evaluation - he just will not do it. And nothing will change his mind. No big surprise there I guess. I mean, we are talking about the child who once sat at the dinner table for three hours until bedtime rather than take a single bite of his dinner. So yeah, we know he is stubborn.

We were also asked to work with Ryan on controlling and properly expressing his emotions at school. You can read that as "He needs to learn not to throw a fit when things don't go exactly as he wants." Again, not really a surprise since he tries to pull that at home too.

I wasn't exactly disappointed by the conference, but...okay maybe I was. And I don't know why I am. It wasn't all bad and Ryan has only been in school a couple of months. I think he's doing better socially than Wesley was at this age, but its hard to hear you child is the one throwing a fit when he can't get his jacket on or sit in the spot he wants.

I guess if I get too down about it, I can reassure myself by remembering that Wesley would lay on the floor and moan and wipe spit on his classmates when he was 4 and now, in first grade, his teacher says he's a good role model. If we can get through that, I think we can get through stubbornness and a few fits.