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Thursday, October 11, 2007

calm (part 2)

Calm yet... NO. Luke and I had our normal Thursday morning while Claire was at school. He took a short nap, we played, and then we ate lunch. After lunch we played some more, but he was acting funny. He kept licking me, licking his arm, licking the couch. At times Claire likes to pretend she is a cat, this includes pretending to give herself a bath, cat style. Luke loves to imitate his big sister, so I just assumed he was licking everything because he was also pretending to be a cat. I was wrong. This went on for an hour. Finally, we got in the car to go pick up Claire . I was putting Luke in his car seat and I saw a flash of something on his tongue. It was a FIRE ANT!!! It was latched on to the tip of his tongue, and it was thrashing around. I tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't let go. Finally, after many attempts I succeeded. Poor Luke, his tongue is swollen, and so is his cheek. He is even drooling! The weird thing is, that he never cried! I think I would have been screaming if that had happened to me... Anyway, he is fine... but I am still not calm.
Some thoughts that are going through my head: How did he get a fire ant in his mouth? Where did this fire ant come from... we never went outside! There are lots more thoughts, but I won't bore you.

On to Claire... Every time she comes home from school, she complains about a certain girl. It's always the same girl, let's call her "E". "E pushed me." "E hit me." "E threw a rock at me." Today's complaint was "E hurt my lip." Normally I just listen and then discuss with her what we do when others are not nice to us, but today she really did have a mark on her lip. Here is the funny thing: There is no child by the name of "E" in her class. Does the so called child exist, or has Claire made up an imaginary bully? So, all you Moms out there... What would you do? Would you ignore it? Would you say something? I am apprehensive to say anything because I don't want to be one of "those" moms that will tell anyone that her child is perfect. Believe me, Claire has her moments! :) So, speak up Mom's I really do want to know what you would do.

7 comments:

Allison said...

I can see if Claire has only said things about E once, but since she continues every time she leaves school to talk about E, I'd say something.

You can just phrase it in a kind way. BUT I think it's our duty to protect our children, and my philosophy is "innocent until proven guilty." Yeah, kids can make up things, and that could totally be the case....BUT what if someone is really hurting Claire?? You would feel horrible if you ignored it. You should talk to the teacher and just tell her your concerns!

AND as for Luke...OH MY!! That is the saddest thing EVER! I too cannot imagine how on earth that got on his tongue. Poor guy!

I hope tomorrow goes well. I'll be thinking of Luke!!

Andrea said...

I think I would quietly talk to Claire when you dropped her off the next time for school. Have her point "E" out to you. It very well could be that Claire just misunderstood this child's name or something. I would want to know if someone was really hurting my child. Once Claire pointed "E" out, I would talk to the teacher and have her just keep an eye on the situation. Best of luck.

Also, isn't tomorrow Luke's surgery? I'll be praying for you all. Jeremiah had tubes about a year ago and has been doing great since...not a single ear infection!

Kelly | Fabulous K said...

Emily,
You poor thing! What a rough day! I hope Luke is feeling better. I was a pre-school teacher in college and parents would come to me with concerns all the time; I would take each one seriously as I cared so much about the kiddos that I taught and would do whatever I could to make sure they we as loved at school as they were at home. My point is...I am sure Claire's teacher will be happy to work with you no matter what the problem! I think you will feel better if you ask :)

I know I am not a mommy, but I have had LOTS of experience working with mommys to make sure their child's preschool experience is the best it can be! Hope today is better :)

~Kelly

Liz*** said...

Em,
Here are my thoughts. God has made you and Jeff the protectors of your children. If it were me, I would definitely say something in a nice way. Also, I would talk to Claire about how to stand up for herself. Chances are she may run into this problem again in elementary school so she needs to know how to handle it and not let it keep happening. Teachers are very understanding and I'm sure she won't think anything bad about you. You wouldn't want to take a chance by not saying anything just so you aren't "one of those moms". Those are just my thoughts. You are a great mom for seeking advice. It's always good to get feedback on these things.

Jennie said...

If your child comes home with any kind of mark...then you should talk with those in charge at the day program to find out how the mark happened and let them be aware that you did notice this.

Wendy said...

Yeah, I'm with Andrea. I would bet she might just be confused about the name. I think talking to the teacher is probably a good idea. Crazy about Luke and the fire ant! Poor kid.

Wendy

Anonymous said...

I am a teacher, and I would really want to hear if this was happening in my classroom.


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