Look at that face. How could anyone get angry at that little charmer? This is one of Ian’s biggest challenges.

Last week he had a little issue at school. I happened to be there and saw Kim come around the corner with him. She saw me and quickly turned around and headed down the hall so she could deal with him without involving me. I thought that he was crying, and I asked her about it at pickup. Unfortunately I think I made the whole situation bigger than it had to be by talking about it in front of Ian. Kim said that it wasn’t a big deal, but Ian heard us talking about it, and it became a bigger deal in his mind.

The next day, for the first time, he didn’t want to go to school. When I got to drop off he wouldn’t get out of the car. I parked and walked him in. He was complaining and starting to cry. I figured out that he was upset about what had happened with Kim, and probably embarressed about the whole thing. I ended up leaving him there crying and screaming, while the teachers held him so he couldn’t escape out the front door. They did a great job with him, and by the end of the day he was back to himself. Kim said they had made up, and he had a good day at school. But, she did ask me to come in and have a meeting with her and Ian.

Today I talked to her about it, and we set up the meeting. I couldn’t help but feel sad about the whole thing. I felt like here we go again, more problems at school. I left the school and just felt so frustrated and short with the kids.

Tonight they had back to school night at SWMS. I wasn’t going to go because Scott is out of town. At the last minute I decided to get Garrett to babysit, and I went.

Their presentation of math tonight was so great and made so much sense. I was also able to talk to some of the teachers about Ian. I heard so many great things about him. I saw how much his teachers like him and how much they care about him. Kim talked to me about the meeting and said she just wants to show Ian that we are all on the same page. She feels that he has gotten to know her better and now he feels more comfortable pushing her. She totally has him figured out!

It made me feel so good to see that she understands him and that the meeting isn’t to tell me about all of Ian’s “bad” behaviors, but rather to show him that we are a united front and that I will stand behind what Kim says. I am so happy that I went. It just reaffirmed for me why I send my kids to a Montessori school.