First Grade

Today was the first day of first grade for Adam and Patrick. We had found out their teachers via voice message earlier in the week. However, the message was not child specific and we were unable to determine which twin got which teacher until the first day. Well after walking them to school we found out that P got the teacher both twin's wanted. A was so upset and started crying. P was so happy in his classroom and his friends (twin boys) from the after school program were also in that class. Poor A, he was so upset and didn't want to do anything. Things did turn better when the boys' BFF entered his class. I was just so thrilled that the trouble maker kid is not in either of their classes. My suggestions that I
had with their former and after school teachers did not fall on deaf ears.

Kindergarten

Sorry for the delay. Life ran away from me. Let's see all that has been happening.... My boys started kindergarten. It has been a little bit of a rough transition, especially for the P. So I thought I was quite clever in that I split the boys up into separate classes so that they could focus on their schoolwork without the distraction of their brother. This worked well for Adam, however, Mr. P got place in a class with kids with much stronger "personalities" than even his brother has. Basically, P has fallen in with the wrong crowd. Yes, this can happen in kindergarten. Consequently, I have been getting some sad e-mails from his teacher that he is an unkind child and displaying bully-like behavior. It has been very upsetting. It is especially distressing when you look up on line and they have all these horrible things to say about the parents of bullies. (There is very little constructive resources- mainly about the victims). Because bullying is taken so seriously nowadays, T and I stepped up to the plate to work hard with P on his behavior- lots of talking to and no treats, no TV, no iphone, etc (yep- it is like AJ is punished too, but I let him know he needs to look out for his brother better to make sure he is making good choices on the playground when they are together). It has been tough because P thinks that these naughty boys are "awesome" and wants to fit in so badly that he will do whatever they tell him to. We have to keep reminding him that he is the master of his fate and in control of his own decisions. I am hoping for a good day today. We got one last week, here's hoping for more. This is going to be a long road.