Navigating Preschool

Navigating preschool is hard. And sometimes makes me worried about dealing with issues in elementary school.

But, I remind myself that I should be thankful that I am the one at home getting to hear these stories when Jacob gets in the car after school. Sometimes, if you don't hear them immediately, the kids will lose their sense of urgency in telling you their stories. And then, I would be missing out on some great, teachable moments with Jacob.

Some kids like to pick on other kids. Some kids like to pinch. And some kids are wonderful friends for your son. Some kids help bring out the best.

And this year, I find myself talking with Jacob a lot about how to choose his friends, and how to deal with situations that are difficult for a four-year-old to understand. That sometimes, a friend isn't really a friend if they hurt you all the time. And sometimes, you need to pick friends who will bring out the best in you - who are good students, listen to the teachers, and want to be nice to you.

Most of all, regardless of what other people do, I am teaching Jacob that he is in charge of himself. Always. No one can tell him what to do or how to act, what to think and how to play. And hopefully, this becomes a habit for him that he carries with him in future friendships. That Jacob can think for himself and make his own decisions. Just because another boy thinks something is funny doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. And, just because someone else tells you to do something doesn't mean you should do it.

I can see Jacob brighten up with more knowledge about friendships and how to deal with situations at school. He is already struggling with not wanting to tell the teacher about something because he doesn't want his friend to get in trouble. I am glad he is compassionate towards his friends, but pray he finds a balance between not wanting his friends in trouble, and avoiding becoming a target for kids who do mean things to others. I don't want someone to pinch him because they know he won't tell. I don't want someone to say mean things to him just because he won't get them in trouble.

Friendships are hard to navigate, even in preschool. I am thankful for the great friends Jacob has made. And, in a way, I'm thankful for these difficult lessons he is learning. At least right now, the consequences are minor. Being pinched when the teacher isn't looking isn't as bad as what he could come across in elementary or middle school. But, these smaller situations will give him an opportunity to learn to stand up for himself and know how to handle the bigger situations when they arise. I wish I could keep him in a bubble forever, but since that's not possible, I'm thankful that I can be here to guide him through the tough times and talk with him about finding a solution that works best for him. Teaching him how to handle friends and teachers is so important, and I am so thankful I am home with him after preschool to hear what he has to say and what he is thinking.

Jacob has brought a lot of prayer into this house. I am thankful for his praying heart, and his wise words. The end of his prayer before nap today said, "and thank you Lord for the little boys in my class, and I pray you help them learn and be friends." He is so sweet, and I am so glad to have a son who can pray openly with me about problems he is having and lead me to be a better mom and encourage him to pray whenever he wants to. During his prayer, he said the wrong name for one of his friends. Afterwards, he said, "does God know when I say something wrong, and he can still know I'm thankful for my friend XXX?" When I told him yes, that God knows what he meant, he smiled and closed his eyes to take his nap. I love how safe he looked, and how he truly knows in his heart that he is being watched over and taken care of.

Halloween Clearance

This year, we spent $50 on costumes for the kids. Not complaining, because we definitely got our money out of the Bumblebee and Jake costumes, and the boys were in love with their choices. But, since we know our boys love certain characters and we know that they are both pretty easy going in terms of choosing what they want to be (we can suggest they be something and they are fine with that), we decided to hit up Target the day after Halloween and see if they had anything that could be used for next year. I really wanted a Buzz costume in Joshua's size for next year, but they only had one in Jacob's size for next year. But, at least Joshua scored a Woody costume for next year!

 

Here we have Optimus Prime and Joshua just hanging out in his Buzz pajamas (which means tomorrow morning he will be yelling at me when I get him dressed and take his Buzz shirt off). Jacob had already told us before Halloween this year that next year he wants to be Optimus. He was so happy when this costume was in the bag. It is super long on him right now, and because of how the legs flare out at the bottom it makes it hard for him to wear it around the house right now, so he'll just have to wait it out!

 The Iron Man costume fits really well, and we can just roll up the legs for now. This was by far Joshua's favorite costume Jacob put on. Joshua kept saying "Iron Man" and wanted Jacob to wear his mask. Whenever Jacob would pull his mask up, Joshua would walk over and push it back on his face.

 Joshua loves hugging Jacob when he's dressed up!

 There is my handsome super hero!

 Joshua put on his Woody costume for a little while. It is very large on him right now - kids grow so fast between 1 and 2 years old, that I know this will fit him pretty well next year. It'll still probably be a little big, but we always have the kids wear clothes under their costumes, so buying them big is a must so he has room underneath next year for warm clothes if we get another cold year!

 Jacob in the Buzz costume with his side kick Woody. (We rolled Joshua's costume up into his pajamas so he didn't trip and hurt himself).

Great entertainment tonight, and all of the costumes were half off! Great deal! We bought all 4 of these costumes for less than the price of the 2 costumes the boys wore this year! And, I'm hoping the boys will be wearing the Buzz and Woody costumes when we see Disney on Ice in January, and maybe for Joshua's birthday this year since it will be a Toy Story themed get together.

Halloween 2012

I think all parents were nervous about how cold Halloween was going to be this year. Although it was definitely cold, especially compared to last year's beautiful weather, we had a fabulous Halloween!

 

Jacob had preschool in the morning, followed by some ghost-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. Then, we loaded up and headed to see the Wiley clan for some trick-or-treating in their area. We got to see the police and fire stations, and were lucky enough to get to see the fire trucks!

 

I didn't have my camera with me when we had all of the kids together, so this one is missing the cute little June (who isn't so little anymore - walking around like crazy and is the sweetest little girl ever!). But these boys had so much fun running around and getting to play together on Halloween. Of course, Joshua was only happy because he was able to eat his sucker the entire time, resulting in red goo all over the front of his Jake costume.

 Jacob in the fire truck. Joshua didn't want to get in, and just kept saying "no" every time I tried to put him up there.

 This is Joshua demanding I open his sucker. He loves suckers more than anything, and just kept screaming "open!" and pouting until I opened it up.

 The boys running in between buildings - nothing like Spider Man, Batman and Bumblebee running off together! Our little Jake was pulling up the rear, content with his sucker and in no hurry to continue.

 We headed back to the Wiley's house to play for a while and then headed to my parents' house for some dinner and trick-or-treating. We always go with their neighbors and her grandkids. Jacob looks forward to it every year, and really loves having a group of kids to run around with. He also thinks this little girl is pretty and adores her.

 Joshua cooperating for pictures this year - such a change from last year when he wasn't able to eat candy yet and we pushed him in the stroller for the most part of the night!

 Jacob, Amaya and Jackson would not move from this spot the entire time we were waiting to go trick-or-treating. So funny!

 Going through Jacob's candy to take out the stuff that he couldn't have. He chose a piece of candy to eat - ironically a very hard to chew piece of taffy-like candy. He didn't like it so much, so we let him have some M&M's, too.

 Joshua with yet another sucker! This boy is just nuts about those things!

Such a wonderful night with the boys, and so lucky we got to get some trick-or-treating in despite the cold weather. Joshua went back early with my mom, and Jacob did a little more of the neighborhood and then we hitched a ride back once Jacob looked exhausted and making us carry his pumpkin from house to house.