Monday was Thomas' first-ever field trip! To the pumpkin patch! I was so excited to go along! It was hot as hell!Seriously, it was like 80 degrees when we got there at 9:30 in the morning. I was sweating from my stupid green tea latte and besides the bees were swarming around it, so I just dumped it out.
We didn't linger long over the donut and apple juice they included with our admission because the bees were so bad. But the kids had a lot of fun in this cute "scarecrow cave" maze that was just their size:
The barn full of hay bales and slides was fun too (except that I lost my sunglasses). 
What would my grandpa say if he knew you could charge people money to let their kids climb around on bales of hay??!! Brilliant!Another first for us was using the port-o-potty. I don't think I've ever taken Henry in one of those, so this was my first time realizing that a little boy can use a different area of the facility, if you get my meaning. Thomas was very entertained by this also.
I guess it's a bad year for pumpkins, so instead of actually riding out into the field to pick a pumpkin, we were just funneled into this fenced area and picked a pumpkin from a pile. Then we climbed into the wagon with our pumpkins to bake in the sun as we rode through the fields to the parking lot. As you can see, Thomas was not nearly as irritated by the heat as I was:
The trip was actually very fun. I didn't became really bitter until the last leg. We left our pumpkin in the car and returned to do all the fun stuff one more time. That's when I lost my son.
He went into that cute little maze again and I swear I was standing there watching for him the whole time. Other kids came and went and then I realized that I hadn't seen or heard from Thomas in a little while. I started calling his name louder and louder and the teachers asked what color shirt he was wearing... after maybe five minutes, one of the other moms said "there he is", and sure enough, here came Tommy, casually sauntering across the lawn.
(I didn't even notice until we were leaving that there was a pond on this property too. Thank God I didn't know that at the time I couldn't find him!)
If you'll look back at my Easter post, you'll see that the weather was unseasonable for that seasonal outing also, so I guess we're par for the course this year.
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Today was the darkest of days for my youngest son, for it was the first day he was required to wear... wait for it... are you sitting down?... long pants. Noooooooo!
I'm being a smartass, but really, he is completely traumatized by this. That's why last year I let him wear shorts almost every day of the winter. We would wear pants for the trip to L's house and bring shorts along to change. But this year he has preschool and I can't have him changing his clothes back and forth all day long. He needs to learn that there are rules of propriety in our society.
But wow, I really feel terrible enforcing these rules sometimes! He threw a major tantrum this morning.
Side note: I was really proud of Henry at this point. He got up from the table where he was eating his breakfast and said "I want to go upstairs for a little while." I objected "But the bus will be here soon." Henry explained "I want to get away from Tommy." I told him that was a terrific way of handling a situation- rather than shoving/pinching/screaming at Tommy. Moving away from something that bothers you is a great solution. So we sat out front and waited for the school bus. But I could still hear the little brother crying and crying inside the house.
During the course of his crying fit, Tommy also told me that he doesn't want to go to school, doesn't like school, and is shy there. He tells me this all the time: that he is shy at school. Most people (the teachers, L, Bill) kind of roll their eyes at this (because this boy is definitely NOT shy. Not with adults anyway). But Tommy says it often enough that it worries me a bit. Today I tried to suggest to him that he could play with some other kids in his class, and he replied "no- I'm too shy! When the other kids talk to me I'm too shy because I don't know them!"
I can't be sure whether he was over-dramatizing this because he was already upset about the pants. But I'd appreciate tips from any of you who've been through this with a shy kid. Or a kid who hates to wear certain articles of clothing.
7 comments:
Our clothing preferences aren't as limiting. Both boys have a strong preference to sweat pants. Other than worrying occassionally about overheating on really hot days - it doesn't do us much damage. But when Ky was 2 - I swear we should have bought stock in Hanes.
What I did do was a little at a time work with him to find jeans and casual khakis that he liked the feel of in the store. And 'handsome pants' - the dress pants that Sears carries.
What if you got him some of those pants with the zip off legs? Then he could zip them off when appropriate and put them back on for school? Or skinny/thin shorts with sweatpants over them for school?
Ok, the field trip sounded great until you said you lost henry OUCH. Glad it turned out OK. Tommy...hmmm...no words of wisdom on his one. My kid likes to pull the one arm out of his long-sleeved shirt and suck on the sleeve looking like Tarzan!
I have actually heard that, with kids who have clothing aversions, to include them (like Jen said) in the selection of the clothes. Sometimes, the reason they don't like it is because the material feels just utterly awful to them. Perhaps that's why Tommy doesn't like the pants?
Not really feeling your pain re: the hot pumpkin ride when it's still been in the 90's here. LOL
Ok, today was a little cooler, but rainy. At least it is starting to feel a bit more Fall like. The trip sounded fun, despite the heat and your scare of almost losing Tommy.
Brian went through a shy phase. He still does get shy in new situations. But now I have a feeling he is feeling a bit too comfortable in school. I think he's fooling around too much.
The pants. Hmmm?? Well, I do know that Brian has aversions to clothes and will strip down to his underwear as soon as he gets home. I guess you will just have to keep explaining to Tommy that he needs to wear long pants on school days. Let him know that he can dress more comfortably at home. Do you think that it is that he is uncomfortable or just prefers shorts for some other reason? I wish I had more to help you with, but I don't. Sorry.
fluffy has very particular feelings about clothes--not what they LOOK like but what they feel like. it could be that? a sensory thing about having material on his legs? maybe if you experimented with some other materials? lighter, softer ones? you probably already have thought of this. i wonder if an OT could suggest some things you could do to warm up his legs, so to speak, to the idea of wearing long pants?
first of all, WOW to henry! the way he expressed himself and took care of himself was fantastic!! as to the shy, hmmm, i don't have any experience with any other kids but my own fluffy but i wonder if it's his own real expression of his own needs. maybe he's growing and changing in some ways and is feeling it, feeling unsure or self conscious and needs to know it's okay for him to need? to know his talk of feeling 'shy' will be heard?
I'm glad you were able to find him quickly. How scary!Maybe the pants thing is the material. Is all types of pants (like jeans)?
Grant is the same way with clothes - switching from shorts to pants in the fall, from sandals to shoes, putting a jacket on... it doesn't seem to be a sensory thing because after a few days or weeks, he's fine with it (well, maybe not the jacket). But those first few days/weeks... ugh!
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