Success!

With grapes in cheeks, acting like a chipmunk

To say Gabriel has had a challenging time adjusting to preschool is an understatement. The tears, the monkey hold on me, the hands entwined in my hair, the teacher peeling him off of me as he sobs and I turn my back and leave the classroom. Not. Fun. In fact, quite awful.

I was very impressed with his ability to articulate what he was feeling. We refer to it as 3 year old cussing. As we'd walk up to the red doors, he'd say under his breath: "Stupid school, I hate this. Poop" And yes, I realize a three year old with command of the words stupid and hate says quite a bit, I can only say he is the third and try as I might, those words come out of certain childrens' mouths (poop is popular no matter the birth order)

I had a bit of solace when I'd pick him up and he would be happily playing on the playground (though he always spotted my car and by the time I walked up the hill, he'd be waiting at the gate for me). He'd even admit that he had fun. But, on his days off, he behaved like a perfect angel and often said how he just wants to be with me - sigh.

I realized that he had developed a habit at drop off of tensing up and getting upset. The reports from the teachers and friends said that he's engaged and happy during school.  So last week at coffee with some old friends from Bowen, Denise, who is always quite creative and positive in her solutions suggested bribery. But, in a positive way mixed with role playing. And by golly, it worked. Maddie and I role played and discussed how a smooth drop off would go over the weekend. I mentioned that there might be a special treat if he transitioned to school seamlessly. And voila, he staunchly marched into class not looking back (brave boy). I picked him up and he was so proud of his success. He said, "I didn't cwry, Mama." We jumped up and down, and he slyly grinned and said, "I get a tweat." I told him to chose ice cream, donuts or cookies and he chose donuts. I thought he'd want a large frosted sprinkled one but he decided he wanted the little balls. So I ordered four munchkins and we sat at the bar stools to celebrate. He popped one out of the bag and offered me one as well. We did cheers with our munchkins and enjoyed Gabriel's victory.