::sigh::
I mean I know this is the age kids will get their hands on scissors and decide to use them inappropriately. Yesterday when Tom walked in with the kids he said, "Stasa do you want to tell mommy what you did or do you want me to tell her?" I was busy washing dishes at the time and took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect. Stasa wouldn't tell me, she just stood there with big tears in her eyes. Tom finally told me that during art center, Stasa snipped a lock of her hair and then also cut her friend, Lizbeth's hair.
Tom didn't see Lizbeth or her mom, but her mom has to be upset. We talked to Stasa about proper use of scissors and asked her to write an apology to Lizbeth. Her teachers also took away her scissor privileges for the week. That night at bedtime I asked her what made her want to cut her hair. She goes to school with her hair up nearly every day, but often takes it out halfway through the day. She kept saying she didn't want her hair all the way down to her feet, but wanted it as long as her ears. I told her I could take her to get it professionally cut so it would be shorter and she broke into tears. I have no idea what's going on with her and she wouldn't tell me what's wrong - only that she didn't want to go to school anymore and is ready to go to big school now. This hair cutting incident isn't the first "issue" (ugh, I hate even calling it that because it's a normal kid thing to cut your own hair) we've noticed. Earlier this week she wasn't listening to her teachers and refused to leave the library at school because she wanted to keep reading. And then started talking back to them.
Tom and I are wondering if she just had too much birthday (even though we kept it pretty low key this year). Maybe having the party then special dinner on her birthday and then another celebration with family was just too much too close together? Maybe now that she's five she thinks she's too old or too big for pre-k? Maybe she's just having a tough time. I wish I could figure it out. Her teachers asked what was going on at home to cause her to behave like that, which, let me tell you, did not please me. Yes, teacher, please *do* assume that it must be a home issue. ::sigh:: I personally think it was a culmination of things - too much birthday, too many snow days for the school-agers, and too much television in the mornings at school. (Yes, television at school. Tell me about it. It's on my list for when we meet with the new director.)
Last night after we put all of the kids to bed I heard crying coming from Stasa's room. I went in and she asked if she could sleep in our bed. We really try to keep the kids in their own beds, so I told her no, but she could come down and have quiet time with us for a little while before going back to bed. She came down and snuggled up on the couch between us and didn't talk that much. When I told her it was time to go to bed, she got up, gave hugs and kisses and went to bed. I'm on the fence about her bedtime and am toying with letting her stay up a bit later than the others so she can get some quiet time with us (and we can give her some big girl privilege).
For now I'm just going to hope she leaves the hair cutting to the professionals.
