Once upon a time, when we asked Simon what happened at school, his reply would be “Jillian cried”. No more and no less; we had no idea what actually went on during the day except for the calendar and notes the teachers sent home each week.
Saturday I asked Simon about school the previous week, and I got this*
“Lily cried. He** ran around. He got up. He got under the desk. Miss Jill got mad. Miss Judy, he got Lily out. Lily went into the hall. Miss Jill was mad. Lily sat in the chair in the hall. Lily cried and cried and cried. He cried really hard. It wasn’t circle time.”
Sounds like Ms. Jill has had better days, eh? I know this telling is more or less accurate because Evie reported seeing a nearly hysterical child in the hall when she picked Simon up from school on Thursday, and I’ve heard that one of the kids in Simon’s class is a bit of a runner. Last year Simon was the runner, so I’m frankly relieved that this story wasn’t about him!
Lest this post sound overly negative, I’m also hearing about music, stories, computer time with Ms. Marcie, and Baron. In fact, the most common way Matt and I call tell Simon has awakened from a nap or overnight sleep is that we hear him singing. Typically, his favorite songs get rolled into a medley that includes “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” “ABC,” “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “Old MacDonald.”
He’s perfectly capable of entertaining himself alone in bed this way for 20 minutes or more, and he’s also capable of waking up, singing for 15-20 minutes, and then falling right back asleep. Yesterday he proved that he’s equally capable of singing instead of napping for well over an hour. It’s pretty endearing. I don’t bother to go into his room unless it’s pretty late or I hear him explicitly say “I want to get down.”
I love the songs without reservation. I love the stories, too, but will love them more when they do not include someone crying.
* Names changed to avoid violating another child’s privacy.
** Simon still says “he” for boys and girls .