"Suspended"

Monday began just like every ordinary Monday does... I dropped Suri off at daycare around 6:30am and as I walked out, I said a silent prayer that she would have a good day with no behavior issues... 8:15am, my phone began to vibrate in my pocket and as I peered down to see the caller ID, there it was in big bold letters "CCLC". Daycare was calling and I braced myself as I answered. One of Suri's teacher prefaced what she was going to tell me with "I have some bad news", the all too familiar lump found it's way to my throat as I just knew she was going to tell me that Suri bit another child when to my surprise, it was the other way around! Suri had been bitten and she hadn't even been at school 2 hours. I must admit, I was somewhat relieved to know that Suri wasn't the culprit... ...........................................................yet.
10:30am ... vibrate... look... CCLC. This time the news was the Suri bit another child. Okay, 1 for 1 and I thanked her teacher for calling me and asked her to keep a close eye on Suri to hopefully prevent any further attacks. Monday wasn't starting out so great.
3:30.... vibrate... look...CCLC. Ditto to the 10:30 phone call. sigh...
4:10... vibrate... look... CCLC... This time I could hear the frustration in Suri's teachers voice as proceeded to tell me Suri had attempted to bite her as well as was caught taking her clothes off as well as her diaper. I was then asked to come and remove my child from the Center for the remainder of the day.

SUSPENDED   FROM    DAYCARE!

Seriously Suri, taking your clothes and diaper off in the classroom!  I know it isn't funny however I had to chuckle to myself as I can picture Suri doing this as she has been very preoccupied in dressing and undressing her self these days. She hasn't quite mastered the putting articles on however apparently she has mastered the removal part. One thing I must note is that Suri is not "speedy" at this task by all means and for her to have been completely successful in removal of her clothing and diaper in the classroom, she must have been unsupervised for quite some time.  Supervision, or lack there of is one of the concerns I have with how the toddler classroom is run. I truly feel if there was more supervision there would be less biting, and streaking!

Anyway, back to the topic of this post. Suspended from daycare at 22 months old. I sure hope this is not a small sample of what's to come when she gets older. When I walked into Suri's classroom, she must have known that I wasn't too thrilled to be there, early. She held her arms up for me to hold her and after I picked her up, I asked her what she did today. She replied " Suri bite Dominick". Her words were as clear as water and took me and her teachers by surprise. She knew what she had done without me even having to mention it. WHY she is in this chronic cycle, I do not know for sure. I do know that I find it quite ironic that I have been dealing with Suri being bitten since October of last year. No one at her school ever seemed very concerned as they kept telling me "its just a phase" that will eventually pass. Now that my daughter is the one doing the biting, I am asked to come and pick her up- when they knew this was our last week anyway. . . so frustrating.  

I decided to go ahead and make it her last day at CCLC as I couldn't forsee the rest of the week going any smoother and in an effort to prevent Suri from being bitten and from biting, I gathered all her belongings and said goodbye to her teachers. I must admit, I wasn't as sad to leave as I thought I would be. I am still holding onto the hope that Suri's transition to Mary Beth's house will be a positive one and Suri's removal from the obsessive "biting" talk will help her to pass through this phase (that I don't feel she would have ever entered if she hadn't been bitten so many times the first part of the year... over 30x to be exact- I eventually just stopped counting).

When I arrived home with Suri, there was a box by my front door. The trampoline I had ordered for her finally arrived (in a fairly small  box). Large items that come in a small box mean major assembly and Excedrin needed. I still say, confusing directions should have a disclaimer on them that read " read through directions in entirety before proceeding, or be prepared to start all over".  Second time assembling is a charm, bungee chords are a pain in the a**, and cheap netting was not something I wanted to deal with after the day I had already had. By midnight, there was a trampoline residing in my living room and I was headed off to bed.

5am this morning, Suri woke up and on her way into the kitchen to grab her applesauce, I heard her excitement ( she caught a glimpse of her new trampoline) and she came running back into my bedroom saying " Mommy did it" " Mommy did it".  Despite the fact that I was sore and tired (putting that together when I haven't worked out in over 1 year = very sore muscles!) I gladly accepted her little hand as she wanted to show me what it was that had captivated her attention. She was so excited to get on the trampoline and jump. One bounce and if it was not for the side netting, she would have launched herself clear across the room! She was absolutely thrilled and continued to bounce and bounce. Suri's Occupational therapist would be pleased. She is definitely participating in proprioceptive activities and enjoying every moment... bounce, bounce, bounce.

The bungee chord nightmare that resulted in a tramplonie

Having a blast

If it wasn't 112 degrees outsie, the tramploine would not be in the middle of my living room but since there doesn't appear to be a decrease in the mercury anytime soon, in the living room it shall stay and Suri can bounce all she wants as long as she keeps her chompers to herself................................wink.