My Tractor at School

It's been nearly two months since I last posted and I figured an update is in order.

Ted. My sweet and funny 2 year old kid. He's still the intense little dude he's always been, but the last couple of months have brought many changes for him. Many of the people who read my blog commented to me via email or otherwise that they were really touched by my post "My Love, My Tractor." It was a dark set of circumstances that brought me to write that post. The result of my concerns was that I enrolled Ted in a "mom and me" class that met on Friday mornings. I got a sitter for Henry so that I could take Ted and have no distractions.

I wanted Ted to have interactions with peers and other adults. I wanted his communication skills to be prodded along. It had become clear to me that we'd gotten into some bad habits and I didn't want him to suffer from our close relationship.

There are parts to this parenting gig which I really don't enjoy, but I do them because I think I'm doing the best for my kids. Sometimes it's hard to know what the right thing to do is. I am glad to have an interested partner in parenting, a husband who is sensitive and gentle and firm. So even while I fought the idea of getting Ted into a class at the tender age of 2, I did it. My husband and I had long discussions about whether he really needed it and whether my concerns were appropriate. In the end we decided that since it was unlikely to hurt anything, enrolling him in the class was an ok thing to do.

Ted has really enjoyed school. He has been tentative with the crafts. He's steadfastly refused to participate in anything that will get his hands dirty and he'd really rather watch the craft being done than participate in it himself. We have taken the craft home and he'll often do it at home without any problem. This was the only way in which Ted distinguished himself. That and the fact that he was the only kid who wouldn't eat a single marshmallow when they were a part of the snack. All of the other kids (ALL of them) ate the marshmallows first. Ted left all of his marshmallows and stole the pretzel sticks off of his neighbor's plate. I expect I was the only one who noticed this though.

He played very well with the other kids. He engaged them and initiated play. He invented new games and his language skills flourished.

He still memorizes and recites his books, but there's nothing about him that really makes him stand out as a peculiar kid anymore. School has been good for us both, it turns out. I hated it at first simply because I hated that we were there so that I could prove to myself and others that there was nothing wrong with my child. The first couple of classes I watched his every move. I analyzed everything and turned it all over and discussed it with my husband. But after a couple of classes, I was able to relax. Ted blended with the other kids and ended up having friends he was happy to play with week after week.

I ended up really liking the other moms too. They were a cooperative and friendly bunch and I probably wouldn't be uncomfortable giving any of them a phone call. I still haven't found a friend set among the moms of my town, but I'm feeling less and less that it's out of reach.

It's the holiday season and I have a billion more things on my plate than I should. 8 days from now it will all be over though and I'll wonder how it went by so quickly. At the moment, however, I ought to hit the hay so that I can power up for tomorrow.

I'm glad that we're going to end the year on a high note. :)