Friday, August 15, 2008
Daycare Issues
Our current daycare provider is undergoing some minor surgery, so chibiguri spent yesterday and will be spending today with her sister, who is also a licensed daycare provider. This has caused chibiguri some problems.
chibiguri is shy. He does not immediately jump into a new situation, but prefers to observe and get comfortable. And he prefers to enter a new situation with as much moral and emotional support as possible. His personal preference is to have both parents (Amaguri and me) present when said situation appears. However, he is still likely to react with negative emotions.
yesterday when I took chibiguri to the temporary daycare location, he cried and clung to me like a little limpet- refusing to be detached. It was only when the daycare provider managed to distract him that I was able to escape, and he was in the midst of an attack of tears when I departed. However, he was quite happy by the time I came to pick him up, and therefore I was sure that his momentary apprehension was finished. Not so fast.
This morning, i got a repeat of the clinging performance, and he once again cried when it became apparent to him that I was going to leave him in this strange house (notwithstanding the fact that he has been there before, according to the daycare provider!). He also had a couple of little friends from his normal daycare present, and at least one of them also was very homesick.
While I understand chibiguri's desire for comfort, I think that Amaguri and I need to work on him to increase his comfort level in new places and situations. I hate to make him unhappy, but he needs to become more accustomed to standing on his own two feet as opposed to relying on the support of parents. Perhaps this is simply an attention-getting device, but we shall see. It is certain that chibiguri is not a go-getter who is able to take any situation in hand and immediately master it. Hopefully when I go to pick him up today he will once again be happily engaged in playing with the other children. We shall see....
chibiguri is shy. He does not immediately jump into a new situation, but prefers to observe and get comfortable. And he prefers to enter a new situation with as much moral and emotional support as possible. His personal preference is to have both parents (Amaguri and me) present when said situation appears. However, he is still likely to react with negative emotions.
yesterday when I took chibiguri to the temporary daycare location, he cried and clung to me like a little limpet- refusing to be detached. It was only when the daycare provider managed to distract him that I was able to escape, and he was in the midst of an attack of tears when I departed. However, he was quite happy by the time I came to pick him up, and therefore I was sure that his momentary apprehension was finished. Not so fast.
This morning, i got a repeat of the clinging performance, and he once again cried when it became apparent to him that I was going to leave him in this strange house (notwithstanding the fact that he has been there before, according to the daycare provider!). He also had a couple of little friends from his normal daycare present, and at least one of them also was very homesick.
While I understand chibiguri's desire for comfort, I think that Amaguri and I need to work on him to increase his comfort level in new places and situations. I hate to make him unhappy, but he needs to become more accustomed to standing on his own two feet as opposed to relying on the support of parents. Perhaps this is simply an attention-getting device, but we shall see. It is certain that chibiguri is not a go-getter who is able to take any situation in hand and immediately master it. Hopefully when I go to pick him up today he will once again be happily engaged in playing with the other children. We shall see....
Monday, August 11, 2008
Role-play
As chibiguri was going to bed, he decided that today he was not going to be chibiguri. Instead, he announced to us that he was 'Mommy'. Now as a matter of normal process, chibiguri sleeps in the middle- in fact he usually insists on that position. However, since he was 'Mommy' tonight, he informed Amaguri that she needed to sleep in the middle, since he had changed roles with her. So he made her sleep in the middle and he slept on the outside, for a change. And he refused to be addressed by his real name- insteada insisting on being called 'Mommy'.
i am not sure what this signifies, but it is interesting he chose to be 'Mommy' tonight, as opposed to playing my role. We shall see where this goes...
i am not sure what this signifies, but it is interesting he chose to be 'Mommy' tonight, as opposed to playing my role. We shall see where this goes...
Labels: Mommy, roles, sleeping
Numbers & Letters
chibiguri is beginning to understand the art of counting. As he was getting his nightly gummi-vitamins, he informed Amaguri that he needed one for her, one for himself and one for Daddy. he had two at the moment, so Amaguri asked him how many he needed. He told her 'one more'! And he was able to identify how many candles and books wer in a picture in the 'Cat in The Hat'.
Speaking of the 'CAt in the Hat', I decided to read it to him tonight. Before beginning, however, I spelled out the words on the cover. He was able to identify C, A, T, E, H (for Horse!) and then sounded out the words 'CAT', 'HAT', and 'THE'. I suspect it will not be long before he will begin to understand spelling. In the meantime, he is making great strides in comprehension, however. Despite his fascination with the Japanese cartoon 'Anpanman'!
Andf that brings up yet another point. He loves to pretend to be heroes, including a character called 'Super Y' as well as the aforementioned Anpanman. However, he has realized that while most American children are not at all familiar with 'Anpanman', most Japanese children are. So when he is at daycare, he never pretends to be Anpanman, according to Amaguri, but when he is at his Japanese pre-school, he does. We suspect that he did that at daycare, only to be met with blank faces, whereas in his Japnese pre-school, the other children completely understood. He is beginning to understand the cultural differences that separate American and Japanese children. Wow.
Speaking of the 'CAt in the Hat', I decided to read it to him tonight. Before beginning, however, I spelled out the words on the cover. He was able to identify C, A, T, E, H (for Horse!) and then sounded out the words 'CAT', 'HAT', and 'THE'. I suspect it will not be long before he will begin to understand spelling. In the meantime, he is making great strides in comprehension, however. Despite his fascination with the Japanese cartoon 'Anpanman'!
Andf that brings up yet another point. He loves to pretend to be heroes, including a character called 'Super Y' as well as the aforementioned Anpanman. However, he has realized that while most American children are not at all familiar with 'Anpanman', most Japanese children are. So when he is at daycare, he never pretends to be Anpanman, according to Amaguri, but when he is at his Japanese pre-school, he does. We suspect that he did that at daycare, only to be met with blank faces, whereas in his Japnese pre-school, the other children completely understood. He is beginning to understand the cultural differences that separate American and Japanese children. Wow.
Labels: hero-play, numbers, spelling
