Gizmo attends an Early Childhood class once a week through our school district. She loves it. She enjoys playing with all of the different toys, and has taken an interest in the art projects as of late. Her teachers are wonderful and caring, and I love that I am able to take her since I am on maternity leave. It is fun to watch her interact with other children and compare her to them, to see if she is on par with her peers.
That said, the last few classes have not gone well because the class is one where parents stay for the first half of class, then leave the room for the rest. On the first day of separation, Gizmo screamed and cried so much that the lead teacher had me come back into the room. (She was the only child in the class that behaved this way.) The next week, I stayed in the room during separation time and left for the last five minutes. During those five minutes, she melted down, standing by the door screaming, "Open the door!". Distracting her has proven useless. Every class has been this way since then. Today she made a little bit of a stride, as her crying was not ramped up to a 10 for the entire time.
During snack time today, I was talking with her teacher, and she asked me if Gizmo was persistent in every aspect of her life. At times, she can be very persistent. At the grocery store on Saturday, she was determined to put her mouth on the shopping cart handle. (Ew!) (Don't worry, I had sanitized it, but still, ew!) She didn't have a tantrum, but it took a good three or four minutes to convince her that it was too dirty to put her mouth on. Other times, she can be distracted to another activity for a while. On the way home from class today, she wanted to read her Elmo and Grover book, but it was on the floor and I could not reach it while driving. I was able to keep her calm by singing various songs, but once we stopped singing, she wanted the book again. The teacher said to me, "I know how difficult it can be to raise a persistent, intense child - my daughter is one as well."
Persistent? Intense? Did she just label my kid?
Not that I'm mad about it, of course. She is persistent. She can be intense at times. I think part of the reason is because she has a memory like an elephant. The girl remembers things forever. Today while combing her hair after her bath, she was talking about "Cawi", our hairdresser, and what color of combs she had at her booth. She's only been there once to get her hair cut, and that was in February. But she still remembers. Another teacher today said that because her verbal skills are so good, she can get easily frustrated when she wants something ("Open the door!" for me to come in), but she does not get what she wants, because she knows that people understand her.
I can only hope that her persistence and intensity will help her in her life as she works towards her goals. As for her life as a toddler, I don't think that will make life easy.
3 comments:
My children are also persistent and intense. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out when we are at the store and they are throwing tantrums because they want to walk instead of being in the cart or want everything they pass by. No, you do not need a waffle iron at 3 years old. Hopefully it will get better and they will realize that she just loves her Mommy and stop labeling her. (hehe)
-Wilma
I think given the recent major life changes that have gone on in her life with the arrival of her adorable baby sister, "labeling" sweet Gizmo as persistent and intense is a little extreme. I think her behavior is more a function of a not yet two year old trying to make sense of what's going on around her. Think about it - most likely the last time you left her by the time she was reunited with you there was a new baby attached to you everywhere you went! She's so smart that she's probably fearful that if she lets you escape behind that door another baby will magically appear. ;) Of course maybe she is intense and persistent and I'm just being overly protective of a little girl I love to pieces. ;) Afterall, the adjectives "persistent" and "intense" come to mind when I think of another little girl (or two) with similar DNA. She hasn't stuck her finger in any candlestick flames or started stripping out of reinforced pajamas yet, has she? And even if she has, think about how boring our lives would be without Katie and Punkin!
Not that you are, but I wouldn't stress about it. Difficulty separating from a parent is totally normal at her age. I'm one to talk, but sometimes I think we forget how little they really are and as a result get our expectations for what can be expected from them all out of whack based on what is developmentally appropriate especially when a child is so advanced in other areas (verbally especially). Maybe if it continues to be an issue you could slowly move away from her a little bit at a time each day, moving closer and closer toward the door each time. That way she can see you are still there even though you're not right next to her. That would allow her to get comfort from knowing you're not far away yet still get that bit of independence I'm sure her teacher is striving for. Then maybe eventually she'll not even notice that you are not even in the room! We tried that tactic with Shortcake when she transitioned to the big bed and it worked well.
Hang in there. I'm sure Punkin's first educational labeling come August will be a doozy and I'll be running to you for comfort.
And so it begins... Gizmo is starting to be compared to her wonderful Aunt Katie. Glad to see I'm in good company!
Life IS more interesting with us gals around :) Gizmo and Pumpkin are clearly just insanely intelligent.
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