Hannah is home from school today. She is not sick, nor is it a day off. It is a Love & Logic response to some behavior that we have been dealing with.

Hannah is not a speedy child. She is a very laid back kid, who does things in her own sweet time. Most of the time I don’t care, but when it comes to getting ready for school, we have a schedule to keep. She has an hour to get dressed (I get her clothes ready a week in advance), make her bed, brush her teeth, get her hair done (I pick out her hair ties, etc.) and eat breakfast. All of this should be quite reasonable, but some days she makes it and others she doesn’t.

I don’t yell or remind her of the time because that just creates more tension. I allow natural consequences to set in. If she has to run to catch the bus, that’s a bummer for her. Last week when she missed the bus, she had to pay Daddy 50 cents to drive her to school. Today she missed the bus again. I decided that she was not able to handle school today and kept her home.

School with mom is not the fun event that it is in the public school setting. School with mom does not involve art class, music class, or 3 recesses. It involves worksheets and learning. It is meant to motivate the child. Hannah loves school, so this should prove to be a motivator for her, but I’m not sure.

I have a feeling that some of her “pokiness” comes from being tired. She is not napping during the day at school (trust issues) and she usually naps for an hour or longer during the day. On Saturday she took a four hour nap and I had to wake her up from that because I was afraid she wouldn’t sleep during the night if I let her keep going.

I mentioned to my husband today that we may need to cut back to half day kindergarten. Even though she is one of the oldest kids in her class, she is exhausted every day. I am torn because she loves school. Every day she comes home and bursts in the door so anxious to tell me about her day, but I have to think of the best interest of my child.

Society tells us that kids should be in school right away and there is always a competition of which child can read first, and whose child is smarter or reaching whatever goal first. At parent/teacher conferences last week, Hannah’s teacher said the she is eager to learn and is a very good student. This is consistent with what I see, and why I’m going to struggle with this decision. I’ll give it a little bit of time before I decide, and see if today changes her attitude at all.

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