I Guess I Asked For It

Today I arrived at school to pick up the girls'. Ellie's class was out first and she came running to me, with big smiles and arms extended looking for a hug, as soon as she saw me. Her teacher and the Speech Pathologist motioned for us to come and talk to them. I guess Ellie had something she needed to tell me, which unfortunately wasn't any of the things she made up while trying to think of what she was supposed to tell me.

Turns out Ellie hit a pre-school friend today. On one hand I'm excited that we've made it 6 whole weeks without an incident... sad, but true. Mostly my worries lied with Abby, but they are equally capable. They both have toned down that behavior significantly from a year ago. I'm also glad it was hitting and not biting. BUT, I wish it wouldn't have happened at all.

Ellie did have a time out at school and had to apologize to her friend. I guess that went well. I asked if her friend was okay and he was. Evidentially she didn't hit him very hard, a little more aggressive than a pat. It just wasn't the right thing to do.

So Ellie and I had a little chat (with her teachers in earshot) to reinforce that hands are not for hitting. We only use our hands for kind things. She had already received a time-out at school so we didn't punish her further, just talked and reinforced that the behavior wasn't okay. Her teachers thanked me for the reinforcement.

Then we went off to find Abby and headed home to Mommy and Spencer.