Oh my gosh I have been MIA from my blog posts (and my normal life) for the past few weeks. Life has been complete hectic and crazy, with family visiting and traveling and weddings. Whew we've had a blast, but it's good to be home!
I'm dedicating this post to conquered fears. My three year old has worked VERY hard on conquering his "Hayden baby" fears this past month, and I couldn't be prouder. Something clicked into place when he turned three, and he decided that "big boy Hayden" wasn't afraid of baseball, or pre-school, two of his biggest fears from times past.
I'm not sure if you'll all recall, but Hayden had a very rough time at a few baseballs games last summer. In fact, we didn't even make it past the first inning at the last game, as he was shaking and sobbing and couldn't un-bury his face from my shoulder. He was absolutely terrified! His terror extended to anyplace with a stadium, large or small, including the pig races at the state fair lol. Poor little guy. Well 3 weeks ago my brother came to visit from London, and one of his favorite things that he can't do there is attend a baseball game. After chatting with Hayden about it, and hearing that "big boy Hayden" loves baseball, we decided to give it a try. Game day rolled around, and I could see him battling with his fears, but we managed to get into the stadium with no tears! He kept asking me if we could leave when it got dark, and I kind of brushed him off and told him that there are big lights in the stadium so it always feels like day. For the first few innings we enjoyed hotdogs and cotton candy, and things were going extremely well! Pierce also was having the time of his life - so happy!
Well, it started to get dark in about the 4th inning, and his fears started to mount. Suddenly he mentioned the word "fireworks", and I realized that he remembered the fireworks from last year! As he started to get tearful, I insisted to him that there would be NO fireworks (they were coming at the end of the game and I planned to be long gone by then), and then over the loud speaker I hear the announcer mention the GRAND FIREWORKS SHOW after the game, and viola, here's a little taste of what's to come - and 3 huge fireworks are set off right over our heads! Oops bad mommy! Of course that sent him off the edge and into hysterics, but luckily, somehow, we managed to calm him down, and despite one other "taste of what's to come" in about the 7th inning, we managed to hang in there until the end of the 8th inning, when we made the decision to go because Pierce was turning to mush with tiredness lol. Although he seemed nervous, there were certainly a lot of things about the game that he definitely enjoyed, and overall the experience was really really fun. I was so proud of him for sticking it out and keeping control of his fragile little emotions. Here we are, all smiles, leaving the game.
The best part of the night came after we left the game, and stopped for gas a few miles away. The fireworks started to go off at that point, and instead of being scared, Hayden asked to move to the open back of the car to watch them. Granted we were a few miles away, and the noise level was low, but I still thought that was great that he wanted to watch despite his fears! Go Big Boy Hayden!
In even more exciting news, today we had preschool, and big boy Hayden attended with flying colors! In fact, as I was getting ready in my bathroom this morning he came in with his backpack on and told me, "mommy I'm ready to go to pre-school"! I took that as a good sign. So off we went, and although he did struggle a few times to hold back his tears, and there were lots of questions about when I was coming to pick him up, he still marched into the classroom of his own free will, and waved goodbye happily. The classroom has a pet beta fish and he got wrapped up in that right away with one of his teachers. When I picked him up he was all curled up in his sleeping bag - apparently the morning of school had worn him out! I didn't see any art projects today, but his little note from his teachers said that he was "happy and busy", and that he had learned "the Pledge, some new songs, and the letter A". He also got a checkmark next to every behavioral task (sharing, listening, keeping hands to himself, etc), and their comment was that he seemed like a seasoned pre-school pro. So I was a very proud mama. He told me he will go back again, but not tomorrow. So I'm thinking that's a good sign. We'll see! At his summer camp, his second day was way worse than his first, which I know is common. But I am cautiously optimistic that this new school is just what he needs, and that "Big Boy Hayden" will love attending and will learn a lot from it.
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