Justice

Based on the comments from my previous post, it sounds like a lot of you have experience with this particular breed of girl: The Veruca. I have been learning a lot these past few weeks about this sub-species, and I am proud to report that sometimes karmic justice is swift.

Booper, Veruca, and another little girl from their class have been moved up to the Pre-K program along with a handful of other kids from campuses around the city. In September, a few more of their classmates will make the switch. Booper was anticipating the move greatly and has taken to it exceedingly well. This school, for one thing, has a rooftop playground, which they get to use twice a day. It is also larger with more areas to explore. A couple days before starting, he told me, "I am looking forward to going to the XXXX class because I know I'm going to make new friends there, and my new friends won't tease me." Amen to that.

And boy, was he right! He has made a passel of new friends and left Veruca in his dust. I have heard from her parents that she is not doing so well with the transition. For one thing, she still sucks her thumb, and in this class there is a rule that one must wash hands after sucking your thumb. (I imagine the idea is to make it so inconvenient that eventually the behavior is extinguished.) For another, she is now in a class with a lot of kids who don't know her from a hole in the ground, and they are not interested in listening to her crap. Consequently, she is not the Queen B she once was. oh boo hoo hoo.

Of course, I know it could be worse. A dear friend put her son in summer camp until he starts kindergarten this fall (in a Japanese bilingual program at another public school.) Her son was shoved into a locker by another boy--one he has known for years--and was left there to suffer. He was terrified, of course, and eventually another child fetched a counselor and he was freed. These are 5 year old boys, mind you. Not teenagers. When the camp director approached the shover's parents to discuss the matter, they deflected all responsibility and made it seem that my friend's son had brought it upon himself. Sheesh. Kindergarten is going to be rough for that kid if this is how he's behaving now.

In other exciting news, Booper has developed a taste for salad. Any kind of leafy greens will do, with celery, and some dressing. Yesterday I gave him a bowl of baby spinach and he gobbled it up. I thought I died and went to heaven. Heaven being the place where the Caboose is lying in that header photo up top.