Eek!

When Nyla tells me about school she tells me how well behaved she is in comparison to the other students.  According to her report she is the only one in the class behaving while all of the other kids are not.  It's a difficult story to believe.  This weekend one of the mothers at C-'s birthday party confirmed this was true.  She volunteers in the reading class that Nyla is in and she said that the other kids will be going crazy around her and she will be the quiet one behaving. 

I was able to see it firsthand yesterday.  Cora and I delivered snacks for Bohdin's class yesterday just before noon.  Once a month I have to furnish snacks for his class.  On the way in we saw all of the kindergartners sitting on the floor.  Two classes were in front of the cafeteria and the other two were a little further away.  Nyla saw me and ran over to hug me.  I hugged her and went to Bohdin's class.  On the way out they were still in the hallway.  Nyla didn't see me this time since I was behind her.  I watched for several minutes and Nyla was among the best behaved of the two classes.  She sat there quietly while other kids were touching each other or moving around.  I saw a lot of kids get in trouble including the girl behind Nyla who put her hands on Nyla's back and the boy in front of her who was wiggly.  Eventually we left.  I have to sign in and out of the office so I knew that they had been in the hallway for 10 minutes at that point.

I asked Nyla about it when she came home.  She said it was the quiet game and they played everyday after lunch.  They just sit in the hallway in lines for who knows how long.  She said there is no winner but a quiet child gets to choose a line leader for the other class.  Nyla said she has been able to pick line leader but has never been picked to be one.  Bohdin said they also sit outside the cafeteria after lunch.  I have no idea what the purpose of this is or how long Nyla has to sit out there each day.  It's more than 10 minutes.  Bohdin guessed his class sits out there for two minutes but he's a horrible time estimator. 

In addition to Nyla reporting about bad behavior in the classroom she also talks about bad behavior on the bus.  She gets pushed and teased.  She never gets a window seat.  She told me yesterday that Bohdin was being teased yesterday by Mo-.  She likes part of school but she has been complaining about it more and more.  Bohdin doesn't say much.  He did cry when Mo- teased him on Monday but that was right outside our house and not at home.  I've told him to stay far away from her.  She does the exact same thing to C-'s brother. 

A boy from Bohdin's class, S-, came over on Monday while his mom had a doctor's appointment.  I've met him before and he is a quiet reserved kid a lot like Bohdin.  It's difficult for two quiet kids to break the ice so neither was having very much fun.  Finally Nyla gave up on Mo- who was acting like a jerk.  That was the day that she had made Bohdin cry.  She also made Nyla cry that day but apologized profusely when Nyla walked away.  I was there and had some words with Mo-.  Her behavior toward Nyla is not acceptable.  Anyway, Nyla came in and asked S- if he wanted to play.  They played together for a few minutes and then Bohdin joined.  S- finally started having fun.  I was so grateful for Nyla.  Bohdin is horrible with the whole social thing.  The apple doesn't fall from the tree in his case.  Luckily Nyla is the opposite of the rest of us and is awesome. 

Nyla has been complaining of stomach pain for over a month now.  It's intermittent but has become worse recently.  She also has extra gas which horrifies her at school especially when the other kids say things about it.  I haven't figured out what is causing it yet.  I know she's been really stressed out since moving here but I don't know if that is part of it. She won't use the bathroom at school which may play a part.  Nyla is also not sleeping well which makes for difficult mornings.  She is so tired and anything can set her off.  It's usually socks though.  It takes her 20 minutes to find a pair of suitable socks.  One pair will keep slipping while another pair is too bumpy.  Then her shoes are too tight or bumpy or something.  It varies day to day so one pair of socks or shoes can be fine one day but not the next.  The past two mornings she has taken so long to put something on her feet that she eats only a bite of breakfast before she leaves.  She thinks if she eats outside people will think she is weird so she won't take any food outside.  Next week is spring break so we may get some stuff sorted out then.  Both kids are very excited for spring break.

Cora has started saying Eek! when she is mildly angry or distressed.  I'm guessing she picked it up from Max and Ruby.  Ruby says Eek a lot in the books.  I've had more time recently to read to her which she enjoys.  She brings me a huge stack of books and we'll sit together for 20 minutes several times per day.