I'm awesome

We've had a good weekend and I'm actually looking forward to a busy week. On Tuesday, we have an SST set up for Samuel. We are all going to talk about his progress or lack of it. He has done well since the break. I think he has only gotten on a third warning once this past Thursday. When I talked to him about it, he told me that only one of the warnings was for a "real" reason and the other ones weren't a big deal. I thought for sure Mrs. D would call me but she didn't. I saw her on Friday when I ate lunch with Samuel. We talked for a few minutes. I asked her about the day before and she said,

"Oh, it wasn't a big deal. I could tell it was something that he really couldn't help."

I can't tell you how awesome it is that we have gotten to this point. She totally gets him. She knows he's a good kid who wants to do well but sometimes he forgets. I have stopped making a big deal about his behavior at home, unless he is being defiant, disrespectful, or blatantly disobeying the school rules.

It's true, sometimes he just can't help it. This doesn't make the behavior any less annoying or infuriating. Just today he got his little mouse stuck in the wires of a notebook, lost a toy inside one of our walls, interrupted countless conversations, made his sister cry a dozen times. Need I go on?

Today some of the older neighbor kids were out. He ran out excited to play with them. A few minutes later, I hear a knock on the door.

"Would it be ok if Samuel not play with us today?"

He came inside and sat on the couch, dejected. I got down on my knees, took his little face and said.
"You know that you are the coolest kid ever, right?"
"I know."
"Even when other kids are mean to you, daddy and I think you're the best."
"Yeah."
"Are you sad?"
"No, I know I'm awesome."

We will have plenty of conversations like this in the future. And right now, as you can see, he doesn't feel too badly about himself. Let's hope that this will last.