School Update on Lucas

I want to start this post by saying what a special child Lucas is. He is hilarious and very smart. He has a huge heart that is filled with love for his mama, daddy, and brother. He is also very wild and crazy. I would not want him any other way than just how he is!

Last Monday I asked Mrs. Ryan, Lucas' teacher, how he was doing. She said he was doing great but needed to work on being still at rest time. I told her I thought that rest time might be a problem and that we would talk about it. I am not surprised that Lucas is not still at rest time. Lucas Wiersma is never still. (and I really don't know why they have a rest time when school is only 3 hours but that's a-whole-nother story) Anyways, I told him he needed to work on being still at rest time. No big deal. On Wednesday I asked Mrs. Ryan how his day was and she said, "He needs to work on being still and keeping his hands to himself." Again, I wasn't surprised to hear he wasn't still or keeping his hands to himself. We have issues with keeping his hands to himself at home. However, he is an active 3 year old boy and loves to be physical. I decided I was going to stop asking Mrs. Ryan how his day was. If it was bad enough, she would let me know. So Friday, I didn't ask her and she didn't tell me. Lucas told me that he got put in timeout for pinching Georgia and "the boy with the red shirt on". According to Lucas, Georgia and "the girls" wanted to play trucks with him and he wanted to play by himself so he pinched Georgia. Not sure why he pinched "the boy with the red shirt on". We talked about not pinching our friends. This morning before school we went over our 5 rules, No pushing, No pinching, keep our hands to ourselves, use the potty, and be still at rest time. We go over it all the time. When I picked him up, I didn't talk to Mrs. Ryan. I asked Lucas if he was a good boy and he told me he had to go to time out because he pushed Shon in the neck. Sure enough, when I looked in his bag, there was a note from Mrs. Ryan about what transpired on the playground. This is what the note said:

Lucas had a hard time keeping his hands to himself today. He knocked Shon down on the playground-He and Shon were playing and he ran toward Shon and grabbed him around the neck-Also we are having a hard time being still and listening during group time-we want to move around or play with books-Just a little "heads up" on what is going on. Thanks, Mrs. Ryan

I decided to call Central Pres. to talk to Mrs. Ryan. I wanted her to know I appreciate her letting me know what was going on and that I am working with him on the same issues at home. She was very nice and we had a good conversation. I am glad Lucas is not a wimp but I certainly don't want him to be a bully and Mrs. Ryan doesn't think he is bullying at all; he just plays rough. (which I am well aware of, you should see how he "plays" with poor Brice) She said that everyone in the class loves Lucas and wants to be around him despite his pinching, pushing, tackling, and whatever else. She was also very complimentary on how smart Lucas is. He always answers all the questions she asks the class at group time. (even though he is moving around and playing with books as she said, I guess he is a multi-tasker) I told her to keep me posted on what is going on at school. It was good to talk to her. I always want to be aware of what is going on with the boys at school whether it's now or when they are in high school!

Honestly, I really don't think Lucas is much different than any other rambunctious, physical 3 year old boy. I think he will probably grow out of a lot of this behavior and I am not overly concerned about him. However, I have borrowed a copy of my friend Jennifer's book, The New Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson to give me some tips. I have heard that it is refreshing to read this book and hear about other children who are going through similar issues as my special Lucas.