Nate the Naughty Boy

I am so glad that I have the whole weekend ahead of me and that I will be able to spend some quality time teaching Nate how not to be naughty.  He goes to preschool and I have been getting bad reports lately from his teacher.  Last week the kids were on the playground and he pushed a 2-year old girl down and then pushed her face into the dirt.  I was appalled that he would have even think to do that let alone do it to a little girl (who happens to be much smaller than him).  He said he did it because he loves her and he didn't know why he was in trouble.  I realized that I am now the one in trouble because I need to figure out how to stop him from doing this again.  I was upset when he kept getting bit by another kid and now it was my kid who was the tiny terror.

I told him I had to take away a toy because a time out was not proper punishment for such a serious offense.  He begged me not to take away his Boots (the monkey from Dora the Explorer) stuffed animal so that is exactly what I did.  And he cried uncontrollably for a good half hour.  (Quick aside...this reminds me of the time that he got attached to a plastic spoon and he hit me with it and I took it away and he went crazy and hit me again.  I took the spoon, told him to watch me and I broke the spoon in half and threw it away...very bad mommy!)  Anywhoo...I told him he could have Boots back the next day if Grammie got a good report when she picked him up from school.  He was great the next day and was so excited to have Boots back.

He has been acting up at school on and off since this incident so I met with his teacher the other day and she said she's not sure what to do with him because he can be so good and then something little sets him off and he cries and screams uncontrollably.  I Googled it and I'm not alone, but it doesn't make me feel any better.   Yesterday a little girl knocked over his blocks ("my creation") and he pushed her and then argued with me that she pushed him back so it was okay.  I'm losing patience so I'm hoping that a couple to days reinforcing good behavior and punishing bad behavior can get hime back on track.  Please let this be a good weekend...