(Isaac used to have a cute shirt of a dinosaur with a soccer ball that said "Jurassic kick" on it)
It has been an interesting "first" week off again. Isaac was doing the Ukranian dancing practice for the first three days of the week. Then, several people brought up that he seemed really distracted during the practices, and he was pretty naughty toward the end of practice Wednesday, to the point where I had to spank him (he started fighting with another kid during the middle of the dance). Well, he is three, but that coupled with the fact that he said every morning "I don't WANT to go to dance practice!!" led me to finally ask him: "Do you want to do the performance?" He said no on Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning and I realized I was probably just pushing him to do something that I thought would be fun for him and it was turning out not to be. I figured, if I have to spank Isaac so he behaves, then this isn't any fun, and the whole point was for him to do something that was fun. So even though it was just a few more days until the performance, I decided we would not do it this year. I did see him be able to follow directions and do the steps though, so that was positive.
It was hard for me because I was worried that not making him follow through would be a bad idea, since he did say a bunch of times before practices started that he wanted to do the dance. But lots of more experienced people have reassured me that at three, it really doesn't matter. I think it was hard too because Isaac is my first baby and like Nana said, you always think your first child is capable of more. Sometimes my expectations are totally unrealistic. This was a good experience though because I realized he is definitely not ready for any organized sort of class or group. He just wants to do his own thing - and that is fine. I said, "Well, you are not going to be on a soccer team." "But I like soccer," he said. Nah, I think he can just play at the park with us and other kids. He is in a stage that is kind of rebellious (I have definitely seen this in other 3-year-olds I worked with this past year), silly, and very physical. We have started making a routine of going to the park every evening around 8 pm until it gets dark so he can run off a last little bit of energy.
The only real downside to the dancing experience is that now I'm a little concerned that his new preschool, which is a lot more teacher-directed, won't be the right fit for him or that he will be classified as a "bad kid" when I know he isn't at all. I guess if that happens I honestly will just pull him out of there, because that would be ridiculous and it would probably be their own fault for not providing adequate structure. Well, I will pull him out once baby sister comes if that is the case. It just started to hit me this past week that I am going to have a baby really soon after I go back to work. Two months will go by really fast this time, I am sure.
On another note, what are your thoughts? At the preschool they say they recommend going down to preschool only (obviously because they want to keep making money too) because they say it keeps things more consistent for the class and child(well, I agree, but there is also the money factor), but I am also considering keeping him at home when the baby is born. There is that internal debate - it will be more hectic if he is here, because he will want attention, but having to bring him back and forth will also be a bit of a commitment, even though we could take a walk since it is relatively close to our house. On the positive side, if he is home, he can have lots of time to bond with the baby and I can spend time with him too, and if he is at preschool, he will get some "Isaac" time that is just focused on him. I don't know if anyone who reads this blog has any experience with this. But you might have an opinion ;).
This summer has been weird because it has not been consistent in terms of structure, (I was with him, then Nana took care of him, now I am again) and I can tell this has thrown him off. Not that this is a bad thing to learn flexibility, but honestly I am so not set in my "routines" that I think he has plenty of that.It was good though - he spent time away from me for the first time ever and he did really well and was a very brave boy. Once he said on the phone, "Mama, I just want to see you for a little bit!" Ah, poor sweet boy, you nearly broke my heart!
By the end of this week, I noticed he seemed a lot calmer, possibly because we have our own little routines we follow when we are together (well, maybe also because we didn't go to dance practice, which he didn't want to do). Not very time-stamped, but there is an order we do things in. Get up, eat breakfast (sometimes a long time after we get up, sometimes not), go somewhere or do a big project around the house, come back and have some lunch, relax around the house because it has been too hot to go back outside at this point or go to do something else if it involves water or air conditioning, come back and make dinner, eat dinner, go to park, go to bed. If Isaac falls asleep somewhere in there and has a nap, I know it has been a good day!
Yeah, this post was kind of random. I have been having lots of different thoughts though so sometimes it is good to just get some of them out and let my brain move on.
