Monday, August 15, 2011

White Lies?? Really??? Already!!!!!

 

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Just look at our little cutie, complete with hair long enough for TWO pig-tails (well, pretty close!) just before school last week.  I swear there are not too many days that go by that Lj does not amaze us.  Last week was no exception.  She cried the first day of 3 year old preschool and then the rest was history.  She just could not wait to get there!  Well, last Thursday when Mom picked her up and began to ask about her school work, she noticed that Lexi’s usual very good coloring had reverted back to scribbling.  Mom asked her shy she scribbled and she replied that her friend #1 scribbles so she did too. 

What???  Well, Mom made her redo her paper and then when I arrived told me about the issue. I took little Lj home and had a conversation with her about doing her best and then made her color a page in a coloring book for me.  She did awesome!  

So when her dad came home that night I struck up a conversation about school during dinner.  Lexi began her usual aversion tactics!  First she avoided the question of what she did a school.  So I brought in her papers.  Then her Daddy asked her what kind of shape she had colored… (no answer).  Then he asked her what color her shape was and she replied, “ I don’t know.”  It was then I stepped in out of sheer maddness to let her know that if she continued to play “clueless” she would get to watch no night-time tv.  Yea… it worked.  She quickly told her Daddy what shape it was but then when asked the color, she again replied “I don’t know”.  I jumped in again and she told him, “It’s a secret.”  AGAIN I told her you either tell your father what shape and color on the page or we will spend the rest of the night reading books about shapes and colors.  FINALLY, she looked at him and said “it’s red!” 

Now for the really amazing part… after she finally told her Daddy the color of the shape, he made a comment that if she continued to not do her best at school, he was going to call Mrs. Linda and tell her that she could do better.  Well, Lexi pipes up and told her daddy, “well, she does not have a phone!”.  I swear we both just about fell out of our chairs but needless to say after over 2 years of parenting her, we both knew that a straight face was in order.  All I can say now is “HOLY COW!” If her 3 year old brain can now make up such excuses Heaven help us when she is 16!

Here’s our dilemma. . . how far in the name of getting her to become her own person and not be a follower do we go?  And if it is short, how do you teach a 3 year old that skill?  She’s clearly very bright and so much of the time, we think she is much smarter than we are!

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

T’was the Night Before “pre” school . . .

Cool as a cucumber!!!
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Backing up…

A Princess’ answer to plain ole’ tee-ball uniforms!

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A style all of her own!

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And to top it off, she DID play better!

PM 1st Day of 3 year old Preschool…

Just let me say… we tried!  For the last two nights, Lj has fought sleep at night so we thought withholding her afternoon nap would help get her to sleep.  Let’s just emphasize “thought”!  Before I could get her home we had this….

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and then after bringing her in, we still had this….

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tomorrow will guarantee a nap after school!  Notice, she is NOT in her school outfit.  Regardless of how cute she was, it WAS NOT a dress so as soon as she came home, she changed BACK into the dress she slept in last night.  So… again… who is the boss of this family???

Lexi’s First Day of 3-year old Pre-school

It’s very hard to believe that the new 2011-2012 school year is here and that Lj officially started Pre-school today!  For one… it’s too daggone HOT for school and for another… she is growing UP too soon!

I’ve been back to work for a week now and have had students for 4 school days.  This morning our very family oriented principal covered a Kindergarten class for me so that I could go with Lj to class for her first day.  I really hated to leave a class that I had yet to spend a full period with but then again, this is a first for Lexi that will not be repeated. 

I got there before Mom and Lj and once they arrived took a few pictures.  Gracious, it’s hard to not notice the difference between last year and this year.  She did put up with me taking a few pictures but I still did not manage to get really great ones. 9:00 am is not a great time for photos but here they come…

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Proud little 3-year old preschooler… fearless!!

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Taking the steps into the building complete with new book bag!

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One final “photo-opt”!  This outfit sponsored by Aunt Carolyn by Crazy 8’s!

The next thing that happened was not documented due to an unprecedented appearance of “Lexi who wants her Mommy” act.  (She was just fine as soon as Mommy left the room and then her best friend Rachel came in!)  Not only did she manage to cry, she made Mommy cry as well.  What happened to the easy first day of last year???

I promise an update of the afternoon events later….