A smaller footprint: Parent-Teacher Conferences

A few weeks ago we had Tate's first parent-teacher conferences. He is so different at school than he is at home! He is very quiet. When his teacher did the testing, she said he would answer in a whisper. She mentioned that she told him her ears were old and he needed to talk louder. I told Tate what Miss Sandy had said. His response was, "Why are they old? Is she going to get new ears?"
Michael and I thought things were going better, and they are to some extent, but he still has some anxiety to overcome. Some definite discrepancies came up while we were talking with Miss Sandy. There were things we know he knows and skills he also showed at his preschool screening that he wouldn't show his teacher. Example: at the screening (and every time I've seen him use scissors), he cuts perfect. For Miss Sandy, he held the scissors upside-down.

He usually takes steps one at a time and has no problem jumping from heights. For Miss Sandy, he acted deathly afraid of climbing the boxes that were lined up like stair steps and wouldn't jump off without holding her hand. She said he was shaking and squeezed her hand. When we said he has no trouble with stairs or jumping from heights, she said it must have been anxiety because he had to do it in front of his class. Those were just a few. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn she was talking about someone else's child.
His teacher also said that she had never observed him talking to the other kids in the class, but she's sure he does. I had been asking him weekly if he has any friends in his class. I gave up asking because he always told me no and it made me sad. Last week he randomly told me he had a friend at school! "Her name is Margaret, Mommy," he told me. My mom says there is another little boy in his class that talks to him and calls Tate by name. This development gives me encouragement that he will come out of his shell at school, eventually.

It matches because it's all blue!

Outside of school, he is ornery as ever! Yesterday he and Michael were building a train track in the living room. I wanted to get in the shower, but I was supposed to be keeping Mayer aka "Godzilla" in the other room. I was asking Michael what he wanted me to do with Mayer and Tate said, "Put him in a box. That box right there and he can play with the trains in it." Then without batting an eye he raised his eyebrows in fine Groucho Marx fashion and gave me the cheesiest grin he could muster up. This is the Tate I know and love!