Mission Accomplished

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you (cue trumpet fanfare) Katie Brown, potty trained person! (Pause for applause.)

We had early success with Number One but the Number Two phase was tricky. We reinforced our vision statement, brought in consultants, adjusted our motto (“Poopy in the potty, not in your underwears!” as Katie said it) and persisted. It’s been a long journey but Katie would like to thank her team, in particular Ms. Shea at school and our corporate partners, the makers of the Elmo potty chart, Dora the Explorer stickers and Jelly Belly jelly beans, for the delicious briber…er, positive reinforcement.

As grateful as I am for Katie’s accomplishment, I will say her attitude lately could use some work. We haven’t noticed it at home but Katie has been getting in trouble at school…at two! She was even sent to the director’s office, which is the pre-school equivalent of the principal’s office. In the past couple of weeks, she has gone from being compliant to testing her boundaries (welcome, Terrible Twos?). She just hasn’t been listening to her teacher, has become very interested in what others are doing in other parts of the classroom when she’s supposed to be doing something else, or is disruptive in circle time. She got sent to see Mr. Sean in the director’s office when she wouldn’t stay in time out. Thankfully that only happened that one time but smaller misbehaviors have been happening relatively regularly. We talk with her a lot about following directions, we are really clamping down at home with misbehaviors and we reinforce the proper response when Ms. Shea tells her to do something (Yes ma’am!). But our little rebel continues.

Of course Jerome and I have visions of multiple psychological diagnoses, stints in juvie and a teenaged crime spree that Martin Scorsese will make a movie about. But Ms. Shea thinks she has the explanation. Katie will be transitioned to the next class in pre-school after the holidays. Shea thinks Katie’s very ready and her behavior is a reflection of her being bored, filtered through some natural social butterfly tendencies. It seems this is pretty common. Several of her little friends have already transitioned to Ms. Toya’s class because they are slightly older – a month or two makes a big difference in development, apparently – but Katie has to wait until the next group transitions over. Ms. Shea has also noted a weird chemistry issue with another child in Katie’s class that is part of the problem. She says the two kids just push each other’s buttons, so she's keeping them in separate groups when possible. I don’t know exactly who it is but I have an idea and it’s an adorable little girl who is one of Katie’s friends. She is feisty just like Katie, though, so I could see how they could really fan each other’s flames. (Note to Mr. Scorsese: That teenaged crime spree movie could need two leading ladies). At any rate, Ms. Shea is not too concerned and we’re extremely grateful to have such an observant and caring teacher for Katie. Katie adores her and talks about her all the time, so we’re hoping the next teacher is as beloved as Ms. Shea.

In other Katie news, she will tell you when the tile floor is “sipperly” and her current question obsessions are: Where dat come fwum? and What ‘bout me? I’m restraining my tendency to give her philosophical answers. So when she asks, “Where dat tree come fwum, Mommy?” I answer, “The store” rather than give her en exposition of the whole creationism vs. evolution debate. I’ll save those for Ethan.