Firm Voice

Last week Eric and I received this email from Sam's preschool teacher. FYI: News Reporter = it's your day to bring 2-3 items to share for show and tell. Sam brought some gems and a Lego camera to share with the class.

I am emailing about an incident that happened at the end of the day today. At the end of each day, we have our News Reporter go up and share what they have brought. As you know, it was Sam’s day. Unfortunately, Sam was in the block center helping clean up when the News Reporter was asked to come up and share. Another student came up and started sharing Sam’s treasures. We didn’t think anything about it, because we hadn’t double checked who the reporter was, and this student had a great imagination…the stories sounded so realistic! Terribly, we realized the mistake too late, when we saw that Sam had come to the carpet, was sitting and listening (poor kid!) and began to get upset. We all felt terrible about this oversight, and remedied the situation quickly. Sam bounced back so quickly, but we all felt so bad. L I pulled the other student aside and talked to them and then also with Sam. I told him it was ok to be upset and how we were sorry this happened to him. I told him not to worry if there is a mistake to tell us. He can always tell us anything. He nodded and understood. I told him I would also email you and let you both know about what happened. I’m hoping he will be feeling better by the time you see him, but I wanted to make sure you knew. Sorry again about this happening! We will make sure to double check jobs!!


When I picked up Sam later in the day I asked him how sharing went. He said it was good except for one mistake. He said that he cried because a boy took his treasures and  he was afraid that he would never get them back. :-( He also said he's not sure if his friend was lying or not because the friend told the class he found the gems in his backyard. I love that Sam assumes positive intent and I also love that his preschool teacher went out of her way to let me know what happened. Mistakes like this in preschool can happen and it would have been pretty easy just to sweep this incident under the rug.

A day later I told Laura this story and she said, "We have got to work on Sam using his firm voice." Lord knows if this happened to her she wouldn't have been sitting on the classroom rug crying. How in the world did I produce two very different kids?! And how in the world will they ever know how much I love and adore both of them for being just who they are?

Finding Joy in the After Christmas Mess

 

12 things to remember from Christmas 2016

1. Papa bought a new massage chair. The Green family was extra rubbed down this year at the Long Grove Christmas.

2. Eric surprised everyone with a Wii. Wii love it!

3. Sam got his super fun "narvel" run that he was asking for.

4. We visited the Boyds on Christmas afternoon. Their basement reminded me of the game room at Happy Joes off Brady Street. Very fun and interactive!

5. We went to the Schulzes on December 26th. Grandma was housesitting for a friend and watching over their cat named Nicholas aka Nick. We couldn't find the beloved cat anywhere in the house and finally found him under a bed. Sam reached for Nick and he hissed at him. Sam said, "He sneezed at me. He's a little bit sick."

6. Laura got a Barbie Dreamhouse with a working elevator. I think I was around her age when I got my Barbie Dreamhouse with an elevator. :-)

7. We woke up to Laura barfing in the hallway  at Grandma's house. I think it's always interesting to see how others clean up barf and the containers others use for barf receptacles. Laura was a trooper!

8. Laura and Grandma worked on constructing the Dreamhouse while the engineers, Sam, Aunt Liz & I went ice skating. 

9. Laura was 24 hours vomit free so we went to Chicago's Science & Industry Museum. We packed a kitchen bowl and towel (just in case). Although Laura wasn't 100% she did really well and we had a great time. Sam got to go inside of a tornado, Laura wanted me to read all of the information next to the exhibits (she's just like her grandpa), & we got to witness a chick hatching from an egg. We love science!
10. We were discussing memorable Christmas cookies which spurred me to look up their recipes. I found a common theme in Grandma Claussen's cookies. They typically had 3-4 ingredients which included peanuts, melted chocolate, milk, & occasionally marshmallows.
11. On the last day of being in Illinois we went skating again so Laura and Grandma could join us. Laura wasn't "feeling it", but Sam sure was. He said, "Just bend your knees, Laura. It's easy." I'm sure that was exactly the encouragement she needed to hear from her little brother.
12. I got a Ninja blender and I've been blending up a storm. Last night I made Dirty Bananas to take us back to Jamaica. Although they were delicious, drinking a frozen beverage in sweatpants next to a fire didn't quite get me out of Iowa.

Tomorrow I head back to work and I still need to take down the Christmas tree, secretly throw away the gingerbread house, and find "homes" for all the new Christmas gifts. Christmas is a wonderful time which is full of anticipation and excitement that symbolizes the anticipation and excitement felt at the birth of Jesus Christ. We often talk about that wonderful night Jesus was born, but what about Jesus as an infant?  What about the cluster feedings, sleepless nights, and cloth diapers Mary and Joseph had to deal with when Jesus was an infant? Is that the after Christmas mess for us? Despite the mess, I'm trying really hard to find the joy in the mess even if I have Lego pieces stuck to the bottoms of my feet.