Worlds Collide...

A few weeks ago, Jonathan's speech teacher mentioned wanting to come to J's class and observe him in that setting.  (this is not unusual for the Infants and Toddlers teachers to do, so I knew it would happen eventually) We finally set a day and it was this past Friday.

My stomach was all in knots because I have a hard enough time some days with Jonathan and his transitions between activities without throwing a familiar face but in the wrong place into the situation.
I thought he might freak the way he does when he wakes up from his nap and encounters my mom instead of me. (even if I'm right there too)

When we walked in, his teacher mouthed, "She's here" and pointed to the corner where Ms. Cindy was turned completely around. I chuckled at that and set about getting Jonathan settled in. Eventually Cindy wandered over to another corner and just sat down in plain sight. Jonathan played for a good ten minutes or so and didn't even notice her there.

Finally, when I felt like he was fairly comfortable, I pointed her out. He grinned from ear to ear and ran over to the play kitchen, where he dug out the hotdog (one of his favorite toys Miss Cindy brings with her when she comes to our house every week) and took it to her. Then, he put a pretend doughnut on his head and "achoo"ed it off, the way she does when she plays with him.  After that, he went back to play with the hotdog with her and she gave him a bear hug. This back and forth went on for all of the freeplay time.  It was all too cute.

Her visit timing was fortuitous because, verbally, he was really showing off that particular day. I overheard him tell Miss Sally, "Horse in! Cow in!" while they were playing with the barn. She looked over at me and raised her eyebrows and mouthed something like, "He's never done that for me!"  The thing is, he really does talk a LOT these days and says anything and everything, including phrases. He just doesn't do a whole lot of it at school...he also doesn't engage other people a whole lot at school,  so his chattiness and playfulness came as a surprise for all of us.  He kept it up for most of the class and even sat happily for snack, which he rarely does!

Cindy's biggest spoken concerns that day (she took a TON of notes while she was there but I won't hear about the rest of it until Monday when she comes over) were about his motor planning... she is still sort of thinking he has some body awareness/core strength issues which means he has trouble stopping himself and, consequently, lands on his face a lot and/or runs smack into people or objects. Years ago, they would have just said he was klutzy. Now, he's got "low muscle tone". Part of the cure is, she tells me, to build him obstacle courses out of couch cushions and whatnot... seeing as how winter is coming and this is usually part of my go-to entertainment routine, this will not be a problem.  LOL. Among my concerns for him, this one ranks very low, but I like and trust Cindy a lot now -- she is working so hard for us and we are seeing such amazing results, that I pretty much go along with whatever she says these days.

Anyway, interesting day all around... I felt a little, no a LOT self conscious being watched with Jonathan the whole time, but I tried my best to block it out and focus on him. I always feel like you look dumber when you are acting self conscious than when you just throw your whole self into enjoying an activity with your child and forgetting who's watching. Easier said than done and the effort exhausted me, but I did my best. I don't know how teachers handle parent observations days and whatnot. I would be a wreck.

I'll be interested to see what other thoughts and observations she shares with me on Monday. She did say before she left that she thought he was doing really well there (I gather, better than she expected) and would continue to do even better as he gets more and more into the routine.  All good things! :)