Time Flies

Well, I didn't realize I had waited this long to post again....
An update on my inner helicopter mom:  After the slide stuff it was quiet for a few days.  But then we had 5 or 6 of the next 8 school days where Casey was in tears over things this boy had said to him.  Almost all incidents of being excluded.  "We don't want you on our team", "I'm not your friend", "You can't sit with me" kind of things.  I see this boys parents every day and they are really nice people.  I kept thinking I should say something to them but was worried I was over reacting or over thinking the whole thing.  They have an older son, so while Casey is bigger, their son is socially beyond Casey and maybe that's just how it is.  I imagine Sam on that playground as a kindergartener -he will have been hanging around there for 2 years already and won't be intimidated by anyone.  Plus, we know that Casey is more sensitive than the average bear.  We weren't sure what to do.
Luckily it was conference time so we decided to check it out with Casey's teacher first.  We asked Casey if that was alright and he said it was.  We asked her if she had noticed this dynamic at all and she had not.  She heard us out and told us that she would not be tolerating that, and that she would talk with them and with the other people that might see it happening - lunch monitors, recess monitors.  We were really pleased with her response.  The next day she told me that she had a little meeting with both boys and it had gone pretty well.  She hoped it would help, but said we should keep talking to Casey and to her about it.  So that's where we are on that.  Fingers crossed.

Pajama Day

In other news, Casey's conference was filled with good news.  He is doing very well academically.  He is on the verge of reading and his writing continues to improve.  He loves drawing and is excelling in math (good genes there).  Basically, he has the stamp of approval for 1st grade :)  Remarkable!
Sam continues to love school too - he has lots of friends and thuroughly enjoyed "backwards day" and "pajama day" last week.  In fact he wanted to wear his clothes backwards the next few days and really didn't get why I wasn't into that. 

Backwards day - couldn't get him to keep the hoodie on

We have been playing a lot of games, which I love.  We have a number of kid versions of Yahtzee which is very fun and we are playing Zingo, Candyland, Trouble and just recently Crazy 8's.  This one has a bit of a learning curve so we are still playing with everyone's cards showing but the boys love it.  Sam has the funniest celebratory moments... the other night something good happened in Yahtzee and he went into this little fist pumping dance while he sang/whispered "party rock is in the house tonight".  Tonight he had to draw cards in Crazy 8's and when he pulled an 8 on the first try he slammed it down on the pile and yelled "Yahtzee baby!" 

We all love a visit from Carl

"And Then What?"  This is the most FAQ in the house right now and it makes me want to scream.  Everything I say "Alright guys we are heading to church".  And then what?  "Lunch at home"  And then what?  And it goes on and on until I am at church the following week.  The problem is that they have figured out that I don't enjoy this.  And now by the second time they are asking they are giggling.  Ok... it is funny.  Sometimes.

On conference day - our playground pals