Tuesday, November 29, 2005

A Lesson in Retaliation Without Retribution

Maia lost her sticker yesterday. She had earned it by singing really well in the music lesson, but was stripped of it by Mrs Hunt when she...erm... kicked George.

Now, I didn't pick Maia up yesterday, Noonah did. And she rushed in, scooped her up and rushed out again - leaving scant time for Mrs Hunt to deliver the Telling Off that I am sure was due.

The full story of the incident emerged this morning. According to Maia, George kicked her...so she kicked back.

Herein lies the problem.

Some form of retaliation is appropriate. I do not want to make her into a child that blithely accepts being kicked. Or the kind of kid that runs to a teacher everytime someone does something to her. However, I need to teach her to be a bit sneakier.

I think we will work on getting her to say in a very loud voice

"NO! Kicking/Poking with Cutlery/Snatching is NOT NICE. Do not do that to me again, please."

That way we can stop her being kicked, alert any adults (*coughMrsHuntcough*) that someone has kicked her, and best of all, pass the tag of Tyke Troublemaker onto to someone else.

Ha!

Thursday, November 24, 2005

The Girl Still Got Curls

OK. I know I promised pics of The Haircut. But I was a bit depressed, as I thought her curls had gone forever. We had layers cut in to the top and I thought that would make the curls bounce up.

But it hasn't, really.

Until this morning. For some reason, the Curls have returned.

Now you can can have a picture...

Told Off AGAIN!

Consider my wrists well and truly slapped.

I went to pick up Maia early yesterday (read, on time) and was pretty pleased with myself. Until Mrs Hunt spotted me, and approached with A Look on her face.

'We've had a little problem with Maia this lunchtime'.

'OK.'

'She was being a bit silly, and poked at another child's face with her cutlery.'

'Oh God. Was anyone hurt?' I said.

'No. She didn't actually get them in the face. But she got pretty close.'

'OK.' I was a bit puzzled...Should I be concerned about her aim, or her intent? Somehow, I don't think I was displaying the appropriate level of concern.

Nearly poking someone in the face is not a good thing to do. Not saying it is. I am sure Debrett's has a section devoted to Things Not To Do with Cutlery that includes a No Poking rule.

But she is three. At three, kids do this kind of thing. I hope she was told off, put on the Time Out Chair and told never to do that sort of thing again. I even hope she missed pudding (that way she will REALLY remember.)

Maybe I have a misunderstanding of what 'In Loco Parentis' means. I am happy for the school to discipline Maia. That is partly what I pay them for - to socialise her to a new set of rules, give her the social skills to conform to a group norm etc etc. I also like to hear what she gets up to during the day.

I just don't want to be told off for it.

The Incident Report - Supplementary Information and Conclusions.

Now it seems that Maia did poke at someone with her cutlery. George. Whose OWN Mother admits he regularly waves his cutlery around. Ha!

The Incident, as I see it.

George was waving cutlery.
George got Kassy in the head whilst waving cutlery.
Maia retaliated, on Kassy's behalf, by getting George in the head with HER cutlery.
Maia gets caught.
Maia gets told off.
I get told off!

In fact, if you look at it this way it is all because Maia was standing up for Kassy.

Therefore, ergo

Maia = SuperHero, Defender of Others, NOT Maia = Thug

therefore, ergo

I = SuperHero's Mum, NOT Mother of cutlery wielding Thuglet.

Hurrah!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Rock, Paper, Scissors...

I have taught Maia to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. She is pretty good, having a decent dash of sense and a long attention span. She also has a pretty strong desire to win.

We were playing in the car (verbally...'one two three ROCK!') and had a few good goes. The good thing about playing RPS with kids is that it is down to chance whether they win or not - you, as the adult, can't really throw a game. Which is good for teaching the huge bundle of ego that is a 3 year old that they can't always win.

Maia had won a few, lost a few, when we had this exchange.

'One two three...PAPER' I shouted.

Maia was quiet.

'Don't you want to play anymore, Maia?'

'Yes. I was thinking.'

'Ok, ready? one two three...'

'CAR!' she shouted, very pleased with herself, safe in the knowledge that car beats everything.

I tried to reason that Car might not beat Scissors, as they might be able to cut the tyres. Or that Rock might be able to bash it up. She was having none of it.

So there we have it. She has turned the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors into a game she can always win. The Ego has landed.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Hair Today...

We are going to get Maia's hair cut this afternoon. Following her last few hair disasters (all my fault, I admit) we are going to a Proper Hair Dressers. It may cost more initally than me wielding kitchen shears, but it will save a fortune in hats. Especially since the type of hats that cover a wonky fringe are few and far between.

Will post pics after.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

On Sharing Special Things

I was downstairs, taking a leaf out of Noonah's book, pottering. Maia was upstairs, quietly playing in her room. Or so I thought. After a sustained period of peace and quiet, I knew something was up.

'Maia, sweet-pea, whatcha doing?' I called up the stairs.

'Sharing'

'Sharing what?'

'I am in here, sharing your special things'

I took the stairs, two at a time, to find her bedecked in bracelets and necklaces, filling one of my evening bags with booty.

I gently removed the Tiffany necklace (she wasn't too bothered - it is a bit subtle for a three year old magpie) and let her keep the rest.

She spent the next hour or so, naked, bejewelled, running around the kitchen, singing Zippedy-Doo-Dah.

Certainly ain't boring, that kid.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Chinese Wonders

Maia LOVES getting packages. Especially packages that contain wonderful things from all the way across the world.

Papi was in China for a buyer's trip for Kelly's and picked up a couple of things for Miss Maia while there.

First to emerge from the (very efficiently unwrapped) parcel was a cheong-sam dress in bright red silk, embroidered with dragons and peacocks. She immediately whipped off her PJs to put it on (Later, we only just managed to extract her from it to get her to school). A matching pillow case confused her slightly, but once it is put around a pillow I am sure she will get the point.

Her last, but by no means least, was a big box. I had hidden it under the table with the intention of saving it, and letting her open it after school. However, her keen sense for unopened presents meant she knew exactly where it was and as soon as she knew it was for her, she was desperate to open it up. Seeing as she asked nicely, we decided to open it there and then.

A great big eagle kite was the result, and she loved it. We are going to hang it from her ceiling, where it will fit brilliantly with the jungle theme. Then, when the wind is up and the rain is gone, we will go fly.

Xie xie, Papi.

More of Maia's Words

The newest is rader dader. Pronounced 'ray-der day-der' with a long A. For those of you not blessed with a Universal Translater, this is what Maia calls an iron. Similar, and yet distinct from the rater sater, a much more colourful way of saying blood pressure monitor.

You can't blame the kid, really... Having never seen anyone in the family flattening clothes with a hot triangle, she can be forgiven for being unfamiliar with the word.

It is a good thing she was not born twins. They would probably have a whole language by now.