Spring Report

We had our Spring follow-up with Troy’s daycare teacher today. Overall, she had very nice things to say about his development and growth. He’s in line or advanced for expectations at his age. He’s very caring and sweet to his friends, which he has taken to cultivating more now. He’s also a persistent and analytical problem solver, preferring to keep at a puzzle instead of giving up. But there were three things that she said that made us extremely proud.

One, he’s by far the strongest kid in the class. This has the side effect that he uses that strength to toss people to the floor and then lay on top of them (Which I don't personally see a problem with. I mean it might be different if he was the one being tossed to the floor.) But it's not in a mean spirit; it's in play. He just doesn’t know how to control his strength yet. The teacher said that he plays rough, but she amended it later to that he’s very athletic. He has a high motor, he has lots of energy, and he’s very active. To offset that, he’s also very creative and artistic, which she said was unusual for someone with his athleticism. He is very focused on his art, taking the time to work on the finer details. Usually athletic kids have a short attention span and just like to jump up and run around. All in all, I like that he’s active, so I’m not going to change the way I play with him. Those other kids will just have to toughen up! (I blame their fathers for not playing with them more.)

Secondly, he never plays the victim. He has a simple and direct approach to conflict resolution. Use your size and strength when necessary, otherwise just walk away. If someone takes his toy, he doesn’t cry or get upset. If he wants the toy back, then he simply rips it out of their hands. If he didn’t really care about the toy, then he shrugs and walks away to find something else. Because of this, he’s earned the nickname “the gentle giant.” We love that he's neither the bully or the bullied.

And lastly, Troy loves to laugh. Not just laugh, but to make others laugh. He’ll say or do something goofy, and when one of his friends or teachers laughs, it fuels him to keep going. He feeds off the reaction. She said that he has a great sense of humor, and she asked where he gets that from. We both do, but I guess this behavior mostly mirrors my own, if I were to be honest.