I received a call from the preschool today. They had Gracie in the office because she had been misbehaving and refusing to obey in the classroom. Apparently she had a meltdown, and they had to physically remove her from the room. The director decided that they needed to call a parent to help calm her down, so I talked to her for a few minutes.At first, I couldn't understand a word she was saying because of the sobbing and hiccuping. I spoke to her calmly and asked her to take a great big breath for me so that she could calm down and talk to me like a big girl. She took a breath or two and I asked her what happened.
Grace: I didn't obey the teacher.
Me: Didn't we talk about this Monday?
Grace: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Why did you disobey?
Grace: I wanted to play and they wouldn't let me!
Me: Well, there's a time to play and a time to sit still and work. If you can't obey and be a good girl, you're not going to be able to go to school anymore.
Grace: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Okay. I want you to go back to your classroom and apologize to Ms. Owens for disobeying and then I want you to be a good girl the rest of the afternoon.
Grace: Yes, ma'am.
I spoke briefly with Becky to let her know about the forthcoming apology and hung up. I decided to call back after about 30 minutes to see how the apology went, and to make sure that she was okay. Becky told me that she took her back to the classroom, and told Ms. Owens that Gracie had something to tell her. Ms. Owens got down on Gracie's level and said, "Sweetheart, is there something you want to tell me?" Gracie looked her straight in the eye and said:
I hate going to the office.Not exactly what we were looking for.
Becky said that after several minutes, they finally wrangled a half-hearted "I'm sorry" from her, but that she was clearly not sorry. She's four, people. What am I going to do when she is 16!!!???
9 comments:
That is funny...only because it is NOT my child! Oh....the joys of parenting! As Dobson said, not a job for cowards.
So I imagine that this is a day when she is Trevor's child, right?!
At least she kept her clothes on, right?
Hang in there, my friend.
Oh my goodness.....Gracie is sounding like one of mine. I did quite a chuckle out of it, so thanks for sharing. Gotta love em eh? I loved her direct and inappropriate response. I also wanted to tell you how much I like reading your comments and feel the love from texas. Thanks.
Oh my! Twice in one week! I'm not looking forward to those parenting days ahead! At least one of mine can't even talk yet! :)
Oh, my friend...after the day (well, week actually) that I have had with my 3 year old...i can certainly feel your pain...
Pray. A lot. =)
I love working with kids...I experience stories like this everyday, but my kids are 5 & up. I find that it's usually the 2nd child that has more "personality"! Does she like to pick out her own clothes too?
I look forward to the many stories you will have to share in the future!
Oh my....wonder what's going on in her little heart right now?!?! Maybe a "mommy/daughter day" would be a good thing!?!? Sometimes when our kiddos are frequently misbehaving....we realize we need some one on one. Not for correction...just for relationship building! I'm sure by the time she gets 16....she'll be fine!!!! hang in there girl!
I think she's going to be a strong woman...and that's a good thing! The difficulty will be refining her along the way. But that is the difficulty for all of us parents in one way or another.
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