The Principal's Office

While I'm fully aware that I was by no means a perfect child/tween/teenager, I was never a troublemaker.  Probably the furthest thing from it, in fact.  Never once did I receive a detention.  Never once was I sent to the Principal's office.  Like, ever.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that my two-year old was sent to the "office" at school yesterday.

I blame his father.  I understand he had a season pass to the Principal's office in his day.

Jackson was, apparently, a holy terror yesterday.  Leaving his teacher utterly helpless with no other defense then to kick him out of class for awhile.

He was hitting and kicking and climbing.  All terribly naughty behavior, but also not completely unexpected.  He is 2 after all and spends 8-9 hours a day with 7 other two year olds who hit, kick and climb.  What was most shocking were the reports of his defiance.  The little bugger knew perfectly well he was being naughty, chose to do it anyway, then punished himself...therefore taking all power and authority away from his teacher.

When told to stop climbing on a table, he proceeded to a bookshelf and declared, "Then I'll climb on this one.  Because I can."

When asked if he was ready to play nice he replied, "No.  I'll stay on the wall."  (The wall is where the kids serve time-out.)

When asked if he wanted to go back to the office he said, "Yes.  I want to go talk to Michelle."  (Michelle is the Director of the center.)

Poor Gina didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, so far it is a pretty isolated occurrence. Gina assured me that most of the time he is one of the best listeners and helpers in the class.  Maybe he was just tired - he's still making multiple appearances in our room throughout the night lately.  Maybe he was having a bad day.  The staff think maybe he is bored -  he's currently the oldest in his class and is due to move up a level as soon as the next "shift" occurs.  Perhaps that needs to happen sooner rather than later.  Who knows. 

None of us are overly concerned at this point.  But of course we will keep the lines of communication open with his teachers and continue our "teaching moments" at home about proper behavior. 

Oh yeah, and I'll keep blaming his father.

So there you have it.  Keepin' it real on The Elser 411.