I'm sure that one day Sadie will curse my name for making this post, but I had to journal it for posterity and this seemed to be the perfect place for it.
One month ago, Jared and I attended Sadie's parent-teacher conference. We consider ourselves to be very realistic parents. While we absolutely and unconditionally love and adore our children, we aren't stupid, we know they aren't perfect. So, as we sat discussing Sadie with Ms. Petty, it came as no surprise to us when she said that our little darling never stops talking in class. She never stops talking at home, so it goes without saying that she would never shut up at school. The teacher informed us that she gets all her work done and it's accurate. Amazingly enough, she does this all while she's talking non-stop to her neighbor. However, the other kids can't get their work done with Sadie yacking at them. After further discussion we decided on a "Behavior Smiley Face Chart". Each day Ms. Petty sends home a quarter sheet of paper with three faces on it indicating her behavior for the day. There's a straight, frown and smiley face on the paper, she circles the ones that best indicates Sadie's behavior in the morning, mid-morning and after lunch.
Usually there is at least one straight face (honestly, there's usually two straight faces) and one smiley face. When I ask her why there are straight faces I have gotten many responses. My two favorites are: "I was only talking when I was supposed to be doing my work, not when Ms. Petty was talking." and "Ms. Petty interrupted me when I was telling my friends something, I was talking first." So, you see what we're up against.
Wednesday she brought home her first frownie face. Jared flipped. He informed her that frownie faces were completely unacceptable. He also told her if she didn't bring home three smiley faces on Thursday she would have to miss her dance class. Oh she was so upset, there was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. She reminded me of the Shakespeare quote, "And though she be but little, she is fierce." However, Jared was clear about his expectations and that was the end of it. On Thursday morning she was reminded again of what we expected before heading off to school.
Sadly, she came home with only one smiley face. I spoke with her teacher who told me that she had indeed been her usual chatty self. Sadie was shocked when I told her she would have to miss dance. Apparently she thought we were joking. The weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth began again. She screamed, "I am so mad at you mom!" We had a little sit down at that point and discussed who had to suffer the consequences for her actions. I knew she realized what was going on when she quietly and reluctantly said, "I'm still mad at you mom." I actually got a good laugh about that one.
Needless to say, Friday she came home with three smiley faces. This was a first for her so we laid the praise on thick. Here's hoping that Ms. Petty, Sadie, Jared and I all make it through the first grade with lots of smiley faces!
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