Showing her true colors.

When P arrived at school on Tuesday, Ms. A made a beeline for him. Not always a good sign when the teacher is so eager to talk to a parent. Except that P was equally eager to share their conversation with me when he came home. The Junior classroom (AKA The Big Kids Room) uses cookies (pictures, not the real thing) as their currency for rewards. A set amount of cookies equals the opportunity to choose a toy from the reward box. SS decided to forgo the earning of cookies and went to retrieve a toy. According to Ms. A, SS understands the reward system well, so her stunt was doubly funny (to her, concerning to us). SS locked eyes with Ms. A while reaching for the coveted treat. When Ms. A reminded SS of the rules SS placed her hands on her hips and gave her the C (aka you are on my sh*t list look) scowl. We wonder if she added her "HUMPH!" for good measure.

Then at nap time SS was back testing boundaries. The teachers set up the cots, and the children are responsible for getting the blankets and whatever other napping paraphernalia to their cot. Probably still stewing over Ms. A's audacity to stop her from swiping a toy, SS refused to get her blanket and pillow. Again she was reminded of the rules. Well, since her petulancy did not pay off earlier, SS resorted to pull at the heartstrings and began to cry. Ms. A found all of this funny because of the five months our daughter spent fooling everyone into thinking that she was a mute and incapable of wrongdoing. SS is coming out of her shell and while still light years from showing her worst, she is making progress. We like Ms. A, because she is not fooled by SS's front stage persona. Hopefully SS coming out of her cocoon won't blow up on our faces.

Another way we have noticed that things are different at school is SS's clothing. Until now SS has arrived home pretty much the same way she left, squeaky clean. There was the occasional food residue on her face from lunch, but her clothes were clean. That puzzled us because they do arts and crafts, and there's outside play. Tuesday night P asked for a jacket for SS and I reminded him that her baby blue fleece was in the van. P said that it was dirty, no way could she wear it. I instinctively asked how could that be. P gave me a look and said "well, the kid does play outside you know." Yes my condescending spouse I KNOW that, remember me? I was until recently solely responsible for dropping off and picking up our daughter. But dude was right, that jacket needed a good washing. In contrast, the pink fleece she wore that night got a lot of use in the previous classroom and is clean.

Ms. A also reported that SS is talking more in her classroom. It does help that her new classmates speak. SS still has a cubby in the sophomore classroom. That is where her backpack with a change of clothes is stored. P told me that when they go in to retrieve the backpack the kids gather around SS to say goodbye. P cracked me up because he said it reminds him of the scene in Toy Story with the aliens being lifted by the claw. Now I have this image of the little people looking at our daughter saying "Ahhhh, SS has gone to a better place."

I started writing my paper at 3:00 p.m. (due at 6:00 p.m.) and I am ashamed to admit that I was done in half an hour. Writing is the only part I miss about my old job. Also received my quiz last night and got 100%. Not too bad from a brain that's been idle for three years. Then again the subject is not exactly rocket science.


We caught the last part of this demonstration on Tuesday. Those kids did some seriously awesome stunts. We love how SS was not only paying attention, but you can see her practicing her moves. She is not going to be allowed near a rope for the next few years.


I can't believe D is still willing to babysit SS after spending time with our terror.

Post #8 of Spring Fling, slow, steady progress.