Oh To Be Her Teacher!

Well as of Friday, the Magster has yet to utter a word to her teacher at PreSchool. It's been a month. She speaks to her friends, but steadfastly refuses to speak to the teachers.

To their credit the teachers are trying. They don't allow her to sit at tables with her two best friends, who conveniently speak for her. They are also asking her direct questions every day and of course, she won't answer, but they're pushing. One of the teachers is actually funny about it. When I asked yesterday she said something to the effect , "Oh we know she talks...we see her at the crafts table." It's pretty simple to Maggie; if it's a teacher she ain't talking.

I'm working on this too. She and I wrote a book together this week about a little girl with purple hair who wouldn't talk to her teacher. In our book it came out that little girl was convinced mice would eat her toes if she spoke to her teacher. I'm not sure that's what's going on for us, but that's the explanation she gave me.

All this talk about the silent treatment leaves me with one thought: Why can't I get a minute of the peace and quiet? Really, the child talks my ear off day and night (yes, night...last night at two a.m. she wanted to chat about where the dog sleeps--preferably not in her room). I realize activities are key for her because it gives me a break from her little minnie mouse like voice. (Isn't that awful of me to admit?) I figure she keeps herself clammed up for almost seven hours a week and that's translating to seven hours of additional talking she needs to do and I'm the target. And it's happening in the middle of the night because she's already filled all her other hours with chattiness.

The irony with this situation is by nature, she's actually chattier than La Nina. Always has been. She speaks very clearly for an almost four year old and she's very social. She makes friends easily, chats them up without an issue. I wouldn't characterize her as shy, but she's proving me wrong on that assumption. She's the type of kid who makes up her mind about something and heaven help the poor soul who has to change her mind. Oh yeah, that's me!