Good Days

So we've already had a few calls home, a few notes, and many discussions about Eli's school behavior. He's a great kid, the teacher agrees, but he is so so enthusiastic that his excitement often disrupts the class. And at times Eli seems to have fallen into the class clown role. Add to that the fact that Eli found a buddy in class that is very similar in the 'silly' department....enter the phone calls from the teacher.

We are very aware that Eli is a boy and in Kindergarten AND on the very young side of things, but certain lines of respect for authority and for his peers needed to be reiterated. We have been working with his teacher on how to handle his impulsive talking and 'opposite obedience'; at the end of the day it's the same song and dance most parents go through, but it is a necessary one.

So last Friday, after a call and two notes already in that week, I got Eli off of the bus and asked him how his day went. (We've really stressed being honest about this, even if the day wasn't good.) Eli told me that the morning was not good, but the afternoon was. I was so excited, because I sensed it was the truth. We talked briefly about what made the morning 'bad' and how we could have changed it, and then what made the afternoon good. Once we got home I opened his folder and there was a note from his teacher saying EXACTLY what he'd told me. She wrote that he'd started off a little rough in the morning, but turned it around BIG TIME in the afternoon, for which she praised him.

Now we're halfway through the week and we haven't had any calls or notes. And each day Eli has told us how good his day went. Yesterday he told me, "Ms. Griffin didn't even have to tell me ANYthing." Absolute music to my ears. I hated thinking about all of the fun stuff and cool learning Eli was missing out on by being in time out or at his desk due to misbehavior. I hope he's getting enough of a taste of the 'good life' to deter him from going back the other way!