Preschool Visits

It is time to start registering for preschool next year.  Since Adam is 3, there are a lot more options than we had last year.  The Community Center held a Preschool Open House at the beginning of this month where they had a bunch of the area preschools there to hand out info and answer questions.  They also gave us a booklet that listed all those preschools, addresses, websites, ages, times of programs, dates of open houses, etc.  There's nothing really wrong with the preschool he is at now but I wanted to see what else is out there.

Yesterday we visited one that is down the street and recommended by one of my work-out friends.   Things I liked:  they have their own parking lot, their classrooms are upstairs and nice and bright,  they have an outdoor playground, one of the teachers we talked to really likes to teach about science, teaches sign language, and they answered my few questions directly.  Adam had fun playing in the one classroom but he thought the teacher was scary.   Things I don't like:  the two days of week are either M/T or Th/F from 9-11:30.

Where he is at now we have to park in their lot across the street or try to find a spot in the public parking behind. They have a gym inside so no fresh air when the weather is nice.  No big deal, just minor annoyances.   Their program is M/W or T/Th from 9-1 and the kids pack a lunch.  I still need to talk to them about their curriculum.

Tonight there was an Open House at a brand new Primrose school nearby so I figured we would take a look there too.  He said he wanted to go and even got his shoes and coat on and said "I'm ready!"  He waited relatively patiently as I filled out their guest book and waited for someone to show us around.  Everything was going well as we walked down the hall talking to the assistant director.  Then we got to the classroom.  She opened the door and Adam FREAKED!!!  Adam: "NO, NO I don't want to go in there!!  Let me out!"  I stand in front of the door and try to talk to him and see what's going on.  Still freaking out!  The teacher walks over with a puppet.  Teacher" "Adam, do you know who this is?"   Adam: "NO!  I don't like that! Where's my Kleenex!??  Kleenex!!! Kleenex!"  I find his Kleenex on the floor and hand it back to him.  Me:  "Adam, did you see the toys over there?"  Adam:  "I don't LIKE toys! I want out!!"  Teacher: "Adam, you are safe here!  You are safe here!"  Me: Let's go talk out in the hallway.  Adam runs down the hall to a bench.  We start to talk some more and Adam says, "I want to leave!"  and runs to the door.  I grab him, apologize to our tour guide, get a folder of info from her and leave.  Adam didn't even want me to take the folder and wanted me to throw it away instead.  Needless-to-say, I don't think Adam will be going there.  On the way to the car, he said he wanted to go to the school we went to yesterday...like, right now.  He couldn't understand that they were closed for the day since this place was open.

There are a couple more Open Houses in the next month which we may go to but I am leaning towards the first 2.  Ahh, decisions!

Call SuperNanny!!

We have been having a HECK of a time getting Adam to listen and to stay in his bed at night.  I don't know how I still have a voice some days because I am always yelling.  Time-outs don't work because I can't even get him to stay on a chair, bench, whatever.  He'll run around so I can't catch him and then when I do, I sit him down and he'll pop right back up and try to run away.  I have to stand and block him or hold him on it and that seems to defeat the purpose.  We've tried putting him in his room but we have to stand and hold the door closed.  I just want to be able to walk away for a minute.  Spankings evoke an "OW" but don't really do any good.  Anytime I tell him NOT to do something, he HAS to do it.  Today, he poked his finger through the package of meat I was going to buy.  I said "make sure you don't put your fingers in your mouth" on the way to the bathroom to wash his hands and guys what he did?  Even after washing them, he kept putting them in his mouth!  He wanted a cookie from the bakery (since they always have free ones out).  I told him he needed to wait until we were finished and show me he could be a good boy and he tried to jump out of the cart.  Once I got him out without him injuring himself, he ran over to the bakery and yelled at the workers to get him a cookie (since the container was empty)!

Adam comes in our room pretty much every night.  Sometimes I don't hear him and other times I'm just too tired to fight with him and put him back in his room.  Now we are really trying to get him to stay in his room.  We told him if he stays in bed for 7 nights, we'll take him to Chuck E. Cheese's.  Well...he still comes in and we tell him no and remind him about Chuck E. and he says he doesn't like Chuck E., he doesn't like his bed, and there are too many scary shadows in his room.  Last night we were able to get him back in bed after a lot of screaming and a couple of books but I had to stay with him until he fell asleep.  A couple hours later he was back in our room.  Dave slept in the guest room because Adam was coughing like crazy.  Last week, Adam was coughing and kicking me so I left and slept in his bed.  I thought he would come in with me since he was alone in my bed but he stayed all night.  I want my bed back!

Swim time again!

Adam is LOVING his swim class.   I was a little worried at first since this is the first time he gets to go to lessons without me in the water but he has been fine.  The first class he started splashing his instructor as soon as he got in the water.  All the kids have to sit on the steps while they wait their turn so Adam took that time to entertain himself by licking the handrail (and I wonder why he's sick again) and filling his mouth up with water and spitting it into the little girl's hair beside him.  This past week he kept trying to go lower and lower on the steps.  They were told to stay on the 1st or 2nd but he likes to see how far he can push it.  It's a little scary when both instructors are out in the water with other kids.  Anyway, here's a little video and some pictures.

Adam is also in a "Sports Jam" class Tuesday mornings.  The coach introduces a new sport each week.  Last week was basketball and this week was soccer.  He was in heaven last week when he walked into the gym and had lots of room to run and a ton of balls to bounce and throw.  I found out he's pretty good at kicking and running with a soccer ball this week.   But like his mom, as soon as someone starts telling him what to do he doesn't want to play anymore.   For some reason, he wants NO part of the stretches at the beginning of class.  Then, whenever the kids have to wait in line (shooting hoops, kicking goals), he doesn't want to play anymore.  I think we spent the last 10 minutes of class today sitting on the bleachers and watching.  As soon as the coach said it was stamp time, he was up and running to her.

What to do?

Adam got another time-out at school this week.  (He also got a time-out in the Sprouts room yesterday but he said he didn't know why - effective, eh?).   It would be nice if the teachers and the sprouts room people would tell me when I pick him up instead of just hearing Adam's versions of things.  The teacher didn't say anything when I picked him up today but as soom as he saw me he started saying time-out.  I asked him if he got a time-out (yes) and why.  At first he said he didn't know why and then he said he was being too rough in the gym.  The teachers said last time that he gets too rough with the other kids (especially a little boy named Vincent) and he's one of the bigger kids in class so we've talked to him about keeping his hands to himself but, ya know, he's 3!  I don't know what else to do.  I'm starting to feel like I have the kid that the teachers dread having come to class.