A day for reflection

You want to be the catalyst for good. You want to inspire positivity. You want to be part of the reason your child prospers. Yesterday's visit to Quinn's preschool was a bit eye opening for me. I was meant to watch him in his normal classroom. Instead, it turned out to be gym day and I watched the arduous process of getting kids dressed, lined up in handholding pairs and walked across campus to the gym. My normally obedient and mellow son became someone a bit more impetuous and rebellious. It started small. Little things that he might do that weren't a big deal but that deviated from the teacher's directions, all done under the watchful eye of his mother. I didn't want to be his mother in this scenario and discipline him and I think he knew that. This was his territory. He ran from the group in the gym, inspiring others to run freely. He got upset on the return trip to the school because he wanted to run and then insisted on being carried by me. On our way back into the school for lunch, he determined that he wanted to hold the door open, even though another little boy has been assigned that task and then proceeded to weep in dismay because of that loss. His teachers had never seen him upset or acting this way. Ah, the influence of his mother. My conclusion is that with me there, he could be vulnerable and test bounds and assumed that I would advocate for him. His friends stared at him shocked while he cried because he's never cried at school. Wild. SO, I won't be returning to observe any time soon because he is more content to live in one world at a time. I was happy to see the patience and care of all his teachers and no one was rash or angry or frightening in his presence. I am glad for that. He has a sweet group of boys and girls that he is happy to call his friends. And, I feel quite sure that within five minutes from my departure, he was back to normal. I say this because he went on to eat almost his whole packed lunch. Luke and I had some good discussion about the day's events, though I should mention that none of what happened surprised Luke. I avoid situation where I have to discipline Quinn if I can. He has pretty good reason to think that if he wants something that I will try to make that happen- somehow. I don't think of myself as a total push over and Quinn remains physically safe in my presence, but he has a good deal of latitude with me and I need to reign that in- for his sake. I'd rather make changes now than when he's 16.

One terrific moment from yesterday was when I walked into our bedroom after Quinn's nap and saw Quinn and his Dad ticked into the bed with their chests showing above the sheets, reading a book together. The pair looked so content and so like one another that it warmed my heart. Quinn loves storytime and I love that he loves it:) See, I do some things right:) We've picked up some new books this week that are fun, though Quinn is newly in love with The Frog Prince continued and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. Luke tried to improv the actual 3 Little Pigs for Quinn last night so we has some sense of the original.

Quinn ate three bananas yesterday. Awesome.