First Day of School- Part 2

If you have not read my "First Day of School" post, you can find the link on the right sidebar so you'll know what I'm referencing to. Ashton's teacher had made a comment about how we needed to "watch her hands" which made my obsessive compulsive brain kick into high gear and gave me yet another reason not to sleep at night as I couldn't stop wondering what in the world she meant by that! Well, now I know!

Yesterday, Cary took the girls to school and he asked her teacher exactly what she meant by that comment and she said that Ashton was hitting a lot. And then I suddenly became THAT PARENT that used to drive me CRAZY as a teacher. I haven't confronted her about it, and I probably won't, but in mind I was thinking, "What do you mean she was hitting, my sweet Ashton would never do such a thing (even though that's SO not true, I mean she has an older sis, need I say more). " And as I immediately became defensive about my child, I had to stop and think, "the teacher is always right, the teacher is always right, the teacher is always right" in order to keep myself from marching down there and telling her if she had better classroom management, then my child wouldn't be hitting. Because we all know my child is PERFECT! And pigs fly!

I've known Ashton to defintely stand her ground. She certainly can hold her own when someone takes something from her or makes her angry. But I've never known her to be a bully or initiate aggression (except with her sister). The ladies in the church nursury have told me that as well. So I'm not sure what happened to cause her to hit, but no matter what, it's not an acceptable behavior. Whether she initiated it or not. And that's the bottom line that I, as a parent, have to keep in my mind. And for all of you that have school aged children or preschool aged children, can I offer you some advice from a former teacher's perspective? ALWAYS have a 24 hour rule when the teacher makes you upset, so as to not make things worse. Wait 24 hours before doing anything about the situation, because God may change your heart and chances are the story has been twisted by your ever so perfect child. And ALWAYS give her the benefit of the doubt because KIDS LIE! Oh, yes they do! And mine will too I'm quite sure. Even though they will know better. When I was a teacher, I used to always say at open house, "If you'll only believe half of what they say about me, I'll only believe half of what they say about you."

Cary had a little comin' to Jesus meetin' with Ashton yesterday before he left her at school. And her teacher said she had a much better day. GEEZ! She's TWO. This is only the beginning. Now her sister on the other hand is so shy at school, I think I might just throw a party if she ever gets in trouble for talking too much. Seriously!