Thirty-Five Months

As we enter the last month of the terrible twos, I'm sad to see it end.  Yes, she can be a real handful these days, but truth be told, I wouldn't change a thing.  She's acting up, acting out, acting downright annoying at times, but she's acting exactly as she should at this age.  The only way to learn the limits is to test the boundaries, and she's an excellent tester.  She's sneaky.  She's intelligent.  She thinks outside the box.  She's a challenge.  She's perfect.

I mentioned before that I wondered if something triggered her sudden change in behavior.  I think I got my answer.  A few weeks ago, the daycare sent their seasonal newsletter home.  We discovered that the rest of Punky's group moved on to the next class, so to speak, but Punky stayed with her old teacher and three younger kids moved up into her group.  This transition occured mid-September, and the behavior change hit hard by the start of October. 

When Punky started daycare in January, they wanted to keep her with the babies.  She had just turned two the week before, and it was their policy for kids age two and under to be in one room.  Of course we fought it, and once they realized we were telling the truth about her ability to count, and recognize all 26 letters and numbers one through ten, and her knowledge of all the colors and shapes, they quickly agreed that she would not do well in a room full of newborns and baby toys.  In the next group, the closest child to her age was almost eight months older.  At her evaluation two months in, her teacher told us that her biggest challenge was teaching the other kids because Punky would answer before any one else had a chance.

So now, all of her friends have been moved to a new group and she's left behind to repeat the exact same curriculum she had last year.  She has to be bored out of her mind.  As much as it angers me, I have not said anything to the daycare director because I don't think it would change anything.  I'm sure they would argue that she's right where she should be based on her age.  Plus, the other group now has around twelve kids the way it is while Punky's only has four, including her.  And it's not like she has no contact with her friends from her old group.  They only spend around two hours a day in their groups; all of the children are together for the rest of the activities and free play time.  But, I still think this change at daycare was a catalyst for her sudden behavior shift. 

I know she's the exception, not the rule, but I still wish they could spend more time really working with her on her level.  This month, the lights started to flicker.  Sounding out words for reading is beginning to click.  She's very interested in written words right now, and can read/recognize around twenty.  She always wants to know what stuff says, like the signs on the highway, the banners at the store, or any random piece of paper that mysteriously ends up in her hands even though she was told sixteen times not to touch the pile of mail on the edge of the counter or the novel on my headboard that's been collecting dust since before she was born.  At this rate, I probably won't read it until retirement but I want the pages to remain unwrinkled until I do.