• Gross motor
  • I helped A- climb up the ladder and go down the banana slide a few times.
• Fine motor
  • The babysitter took A- to the library and borrowed a few books on Halloween crafts. They did a little tissue ghost.
• Language
  • A- proudly mixed the pasta salad. She said, “I’m a chef. My food tastes yummy, you know?”
  • “Sheep is not a fan of getting wet.”
• Music
  • A- mostly watched during music class.
  • A- made up her own counting down song about puppets on a wall.
• Self-care and independence
  • After a little grumpiness about privacy, A- relented and let me go to the bathroom by myself while she waited in her room.
  • A- had a lot of separation anxiety at school drop-off. She wasn’t even looking forward to the watermelon snack that we saw her teacher prepare. It’s okay, I know she’ll get the hang of it. She knows how to be away from me, so this is probably mostly a reaction to how school is structured and how the teachers tell kids what to do.
  • Separation anxiety continues. Actually, it’s probably not about being away from me, but about dealing with more structured time.
• Sleep
  • A- was practically falling asleep at the table, but she still wanted W- to help brush her teeth. She ended up going to bed at 9.
  • A- and I talked about how she resists going to sleep.
  • I had the energy and patience to gently shepherd A- through bedtime.
  • A- was so tired after school that she slept for the first two hours of the babysitter’s shift.
  • A- was getting cranky and resisting sleep, so I eventually set a limit on entertaining her. She was upset for a bit, but she settled down.
• Emotion
  • A-‘s been a little contrary lately. After doing some research, I decided to think of contrariness and defiance as requests for reconnection. I ask her if she’s feeling disconnected and I snuggle her more. Now she’s taken to telling me that she feels disconnected and wants more connection time…
  • While A- was at school, I learned more about separation anxiety. I liked being able to reframe this as practice cooling down on her own, which makes me feel quite positive about it.
  • A- was upset at school drop-off, but she calmed down in time to join snack and crafting. The teacher reported that A- knew that she could go to the cool down couch to calm herself down. A- mentioned blowing some kind of green balloon.
• Cognition
  • We checked out the Esso Family Math program at an EarlyON centre about 40 minutes from our house. It was a great reminder that I can talk to A- about math concepts like estimation and graphs. I think we’ve got a long way to go, but I’m glad we’re looking for more ways to make math part of everyday life.

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• 2019-09-23 Emacs news

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