First Love

When Ruth Ann started her new school last Fall I was so worried she would miss the friends she had made at her old school...looking back, worrying about a 2 and 1/2 year old and her memory of friends after a 3 month summer break really seems silly. Especially now when I see how well she's done this year and how quickly she started making new friends. Everyday when I pick Ruth Ann up from my in-laws or when I pick her up on Thursday from school, one of the first things I ask is who she played with at school that day...her response is always JB (she says his real name, but since his mom & dad may not want his name broad casted to the 10 people who read my blog I'll just use initials). Anyway, at Ruth Ann's parent/teacher conference they told me Ruth Ann preferred playing with the little boys in the class (there are only 4 girls out of 15 kids, so the odds of her playing with a little boy are really high)...but they also told me Ruth Ann did a lot of snatching...around this same time Tripp started becoming much more mobile and snatching toys from her little brother was a problem at our house too. The teachers went on to say her favorite friend was JB...I agreed, she talked about him all the time...but it was their opinion that the reason they thought she liked playing with JB was because he basically did whatever she told him...ie, if he was playing with a toy, she told him to give it to her and he did. If you know Ruth Ann personally...this isn't shocking, she's very persuasive. When I told my mom this story her first response what JB was exactly the kind of boy I could expect Ruth Ann to marry. Every month we get a calender with all the birthdays for the month and each month I take Ruth Ann to Target to pick out cards for her friends and we put a sheet of stickers inside each card so she has a little gift to give each classmate for their birthday...I want her to learn how much fun it is to give a gift to someone. JB's birthday was in November and when I went to Ruth Ann's school for their school wide Thanksgiving feast I got a chance to meet JB's dad. He told me JB had saved the card Ruth Ann gave him and has it on his dresser at home. He also told me that any time JB starts to misbehave, he is asked if Ruth Ann would like what he's doing and then he starts to get upset. I got a chance to get a picture of JB and Ruth Ann on the day her class celebrated her birthday...



So sweet...today I happened to run in to his mom as she was dropping JB off. I had hoped to meet her before the end of the year because I wanted to exchange contact info so JB and Ruth Ann could play together this summer. You may remember Ruth Ann's Valentine's cards were a picture of herself with a lollipop attached. JB's mom told me this morning that he hung her picture up on their frige and looks at it all the time. Again, very sweet, however, this week these two love birds ended up in a little bit of trouble. Two weeks ago we were told a behavior report would be sent home everyday to let us know how our deviants children were behaving. If you know me you know how thrilled I was to hear this...seriously, I was thrilled...I want Ruth Ann to behave and I definitely want to know when she's not behaving...last year the sweet ladies who taught her class never reported a single bit of bad behavior...but Ruth Ann regularly told on herself once I got her in the car and asked a few probing questions. I had hoped this year would be different, but until 2 weeks ago I was once again left to rely on Ruth Ann telling me herself whether or not she behaved at school. We were told this was an effort to transition the class for the 3 year old class they would be in next year where behavior would be reported daily. Green face = no trouble, Yellow face = 2 warnings and time out, Red face = 2 visits to time out. For the first 2 weeks, all green, all the time. But last week, JB was not at school all week, and then Ruth Ann missed school on Tuesday, so today was the first day these two had seen each other in what must have felt like eternity to them...and guess who came home with YELLOW today! Arch picked her up because he stayed home with a sick Tripp-man, but being a daddy, he didn't check out her book bag when she got home. I discovered the evidence when I got home from work and had to go outside and ruin the fun time she was having on the playground by sending her to her room until dinner, then straight to bath and then bed. Upon further discussion with my little deviant girl, I learned JB had also been put on yellow...I think they were so happy to see each other they just couldn't control themselves...don't we all kinda wish someone always felt that way about us??  If you ask Ruth Ann who her best friend is, she'll tell you it's JB. When you ask her why, she says "Because I just love him." So sweet...I hope she always remembers that JB was her first love...at 3 years old!  Let's just hope they don't get into anymore trouble together!