Conferences

Friday there was no school for Parent Conferences. It was a stressful day (with 4 kids, mine + Henry) but a beautiful one, spent at Sam's swim lesson, a park and Panera. Paul met up with us at the J and we waited around for Ted's conference. He had so many problems at the beginning that we were thrilled and relieved to hear so many good things he is doing. Apparently he still gets into 'scuffles' with the other boys, but is always willing to talk about it and find a solution. On Wednesday, he somehow hurt his friend Jack's feelings and Jack was very sad. Ted had said he was sorry but Jack was still sad. "What else can you do to help Jack feel better?" his teacher asked. Ted thought about it for a minute and then said brightly, "I brought cupcakes for snack!" Jack grinned broadly and the two went off to peek at the see-through Tupperware. I'm so glad he is taking the time to follow through when he is in the wrong. At home I can barely get a gruff "Sorry! Geez!" out of him. They also commented on his sense of humor, which apparently goes over the other kids' heads, but cracks the teachers up. Hmm...glad they enjoy it! And he is a science lover, so they encouraged me to put him in some after-school science classes at CU for little kids. None work with his schedule this semester, but maybe in January. Science! Must be from Paul's side! (hence the pic) They said he is very very interested in how things work and why. They also said, which was VERY interesting, that he enjoys all the traditional trappings of preschool-loves loves loves storytime for example. They reiterated what I knew from last year, that he needs and craves constant routine. They're encouraging him to wear his weighted down backpack (that he creates daily from stuff at school) but he has to unpack it at clean-up time, which he will do willingly. They also will let him chew gum at school if he is really having a hard time, so I will bring some in if they want him to have it.

As for Sam, all is well. He loves art, he loves music, he loves to be outside, he loves Jason and Kylie. He's happy and thriving. I'm so glad we kept him in Caterpillars this year. He is such a hoot. Not as much to say about Sam, because he is doing so well. They gave us some great pictures of him playing that I'll scan and get up soon. Sweetie!