A Poke in the Eye

So today is the first day since A & C have been in school that we've had to have "a talk." This talk was with C...and it was about poking people in the eye. Yes, it turns out that C has been poking a few kids in the eye. Why? I'm not quite sure. It's one of those things you never want to hear about as a parent. You never want it to be your child that is getting in trouble at school or is hurting other kids. Not that you want it to be anyone, but really not your own kid.

J & I had a conversation with C today in the kitchen and went over the usual...keep your hands to yourself, use your words not your actions, etc. It's hard to have this conversation with him because what does he do? Smile. Yes, smile. That is his coping mechanism, which I have to tell myself over and over again. It can be hard to keep a straight face myself. It can also be hard not to raise my voice to show how serious we are. We only hope he's really listening when we're talking. Is that possible for a 4 year old?

We'll see how the next few days play out. Can I make excuses for him? Sure...he was over tired. He is sick. He saw someone else do it first. It's really easy to blame other things. You never want to think it's your fault. I even said to J, "What happened? What did we do wrong?" Then I have to realize that (I hope) it's nothing we've done or haven't done. It's another teaching point. It's a time to take what has happened and help C to learn about what to do the next time. I really hope he can learn in his 4-year-old self...