Manipulation

This week started off rough... Luke started crying when we were getting out of the car at preschool on Monday. I had to carry him inside and we had a dramatic goodbye. You're probably thinking that he doesn't like going to preschool, but I have had three separate therapists resume seeing Luke while at preschool, and all three have reported that he's happy, well-adjusted, and doing really well while there! In addition to his teachers loving him and the great reports Nate gets each afternoon from them, we are also excited to see him playing on (and loving) the playground each day when he gets picked up!

So, I thought, he's manipulating me...

On Tuesday, he again cried while we were getting out of the car. I didn't carry him this time, because he's fully capable of walking into preschool. He kept asking for "up" and I kept trying to get him to walk with me. He was angry with me, and right there in the middle of the parking lot, dropped to his knees and smacked his head on pavement (on purpose). With a nice prickly welt on his head, he proceeded to walk into preschool, screaming the whole way. Dramatic, mommy-embarassing entrance on the day I originally thought was school picture day (thankfully I was a week off...)!

Wednesday morning was a little worse. Luke pulled the whole "tantrum in the parking lot" thing again, only this time he forewent the head slam and skinned both his knees instead. I made sure he was safely to the side walk and walked away from him. I was mad! He refused to go inside, so I carried him football style into the classroom and dropped him gently onto the reading mat. I probably could have handled myself in a more adult manner, but he was being such a............. two year old! Definitely a parental test for me.

I was determined not to let Luke beat me... I mean, manipulate me again this morning. I devised a distraction plan. I parked closer to the school so we didn't have too much parking lot to cross. I also arranged to call Nate at work as we were going into school. Luke and Daddy talked as Luke calmly walked with me into school. No tantrum, no blood, nothing but a behaving Luke!

When we got into the class, we hung up with Daddy and Luke got a little trembly lip. We walked over to the reading mat and read an Elmo book together, and he pulled out a different book to read on his own. I stood up to leave, and he followed me to the door. The lip started trembling again, but he gave me a hug and we said goodbye. As I was peeking back through the door, he spotted me and I blew him a kiss. He blew one back, waved bye bye, and then walked off to go play with one of his friends.

Successful toddler manipulation? Let's hope this continues on this way, because it certainly made the morning a lot easier for both Luke and me! So, I'll be taking volunteers for us to call every morning. Anyone who is interested in receiving a roughly 2-minute phone call sometime in between 8:00 and 8:15 on a weekday morning, let me know where we should call you! Luke might not talk to you all that much, but I'll silently be mouthing "thank you" as you ask him how he's doing, and he gets into his classroom without the toddler tantrum drama!