Preschool woes.

It's official. Joel has already learned how to try and get out of going to school. He's always been the "negotiating type". Trying to convince us why he shouldn't go to timeout, why he should have cookies for dinner, and why it's really not bedtime yet.

However, he's really enjoyed going to preschool at our church. In January, he also started attening preschool at our local public school as part of his IEP. He is there receiving "therapy" in a mainstream setting with other regular preschoolers so I thought he would think it was just like his other preschool. Apparently not. Every morning he cries and whines and uses any tactic he can think of to get out of going. His latest is to do a little pathetic, fake cough and tell me he's just to sick to go. (He learned this after he couldn't go because he had pinkeye). His other favorite is to say that we should just go tomorrow instead. And, as a last resort, he reminds me that he is just a tiny baby and is too little for preschool. Heart wrenching, I know (I say that with a tiny bit of sarcasm).

The thing is, I know he enjoys both preschools. Our theory is that at this new school he has specific strategies that are being implemented for him to grow in his social skills, communication, and fine motor skills. In short, he's actually having to work.

If he's this good now at avoiding school, what will happen when he's 12? I distinctly remember myself holding a thermometer up to the light bulb and then showing my mom, telling her I had a fever and couldn't go to school. I actually broke a few thermometers that way--they just got a little too hot! :) That was back in the day before digital ones. It was just the good, ole' mercury. I think my mom frequently wondered why she could never find a thermometer when she needed one.

I guess Joel comes by it naturally.