Thursday, March 5, 2009

plateau

the director reassured me
that this is normal
this not being sam's reaction to his new school-
but mine:
needing information, details, a sense of
the child's day

complicated conversation convinced
me
to exhale, trust and believe
that he is where he is meant to be-
and i might be the one who learns something
this time around.

we don't believe in the behaviorist model
but we understand that some households do.

huh.

it's not like the stickers are going to earn him
a candy bar I hear myself thinking out loud

we believe that children are learning
during the bad days too

kind of like I am learning not
to feel judged for the sticker chart
I have wedged over the car's visor
to immediately reward him
for one more day of
good listening the moment
he plants it in the backseat
and announces he had another
GOOD DAY MOM.

hooray.

my sticker chart
wedged underneath the chocolate chip
cookies and the
strawberry ice cream
for a Mama who didn't
scream
when she really
wanted to.

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