Mama Bear or Raging Lioness--take your pick!

Oh, what to do? My little baby is one of the smallest in the church nursery class and a certain class bully has made Chiquitita her target. She takes away toys, pushes her down, smacks her. Not cool. That behavior is never cool, even if it's not my child being targeted. I only heard about it from another mom who happened to be in there one day as a substitute teacher, but apparently it's been going on for awhile. The  thought of another person intentionally hurting my offspring fills me with rage (good thing I haven't witnessed the bullying!). But this cannot go on. I am unable to attend the nursery class because I'm teaching a different class, but D went the last two weeks. What do I do when he can't be in church? What would you do if you were me? If you were the teacher of the class? The mom is a nice person, but we have different ways of parenting--she is much more permissive than I am. Fine for them in their home, but this is not their home, and I think it's unfair for one child to make class an unsafe environment for another.

I happen to teach the 3- and 4-year-olds. It's a large class with ten kids. I love this age--the age of discovery and enthusiasm. I also love that Pip is in my class. Some of the kids in class have had to work on being reverent and respectful and less wiggly, but they are all sweet kids. One boy in class has a touching problem though--he cannot resist the urge to touch people and things around him. Constantly.  Sometimes it's more than poking too. He will kick or hit on occasion. This is what I do. When he pokes other kids, I move his chair right next to mine and tell him that as soon as he can show me that he can keep his hands to himself, he can go back to his place. Sometimes he stays next to me for the whole class. The other week he hit a little girl so hard that she started crying. I immediately put him in the corner and made him stay there for the rest of class (10-15 minutes). Then I told his mother and the girl's mother about it after class. Was I right to do that? Too harsh? What other option is there with me being the only adult in there? How can I provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for all the kids in class?

And also, how do I tame the mama bear or raging lioness when things like this happen? I'm a pretty patient person, but my patience has a threshold...

(Almost) Half-birthday Half Marathon and other excitement

Back in May I was in kind of a fitness rut. So I needed an event. After considering the many, many options available to me, I settled on Tera's (almost) Half-birthday Half Marathon on June 6 (my real half birthday is in July and we already had plans for that date), coincidentally taking place on a vacation day for D. I was miraculously able to fit in enough long runs beforehand to feel somewhat prepared, and my friend Lindsay (who also needed an event) volunteered to run the last half of it with me. The race course was beautiful (kudos to whoever set it up!) and the day couldn't have been more pleasant. I also had the best sag wagon a girl could ask for--four cheerleaders plus ice water, oranges, and gatorade along the race route!! I forgot to make race bibs this time around, but the run felt great and I know how far I went, so who cares?

Here's a great shot of me pulling my shorts down. Just trying to be modest!

Approaching the water stop

Trying not to guzzle... I was quite warm and I have a weakness for ice water.

Approaching the end

 My four cheerleaders and me

 

Other news is that D is officially done with THE INTERN YEAR. It was quite a year, one that he will never have to repeat (even if you switch specialties in one year or ten, you never repeat intern year). After performing hundreds of rectal exams and being thrown up on and bled on and screamed at regularly, D is convinced that being a doctor is not as glamorous as most people think. Shucks! But, hey, he does get to go to work in these pajamas!




Also, the very same day as that last post, Pip told D he wanted to start using underwear, and D said, "Great! We'll do it tomorrow!" When he told me the exciting news, I asked, "Did you read what I posted on my blog? I don't really want to potty train right now." Well, it was too late, so we spend the next morning on a peppy potty training adventure. Pip did GREAT--peed in the toilet five times with NO ACCIDENTS!! Then he suddenly decided he didn't want to do it anymore, had a little break down, and I knew it wasn't worth a battle, so I said, "OK, we can try again another day." The exciting news is, we all know he CAN do it. Now he gets to decide if he WANTS TO do it.