SO My Child

Recently I went to pick up Kaitlynn from Mother's Day Out and her take-home sheet said "Kaitlynn kept order on the playground today. So funny!" When I asked her teacher about it, she laughed and said that Kaitlynn was pointing and directing the other kids to make sure they were using the slide on the playground correctly (they are supposed to go UP the steps and DOWN the slide, not the other way around.) Apparently Kaitlynn was making the kids stay in line and saying "No!" to the kids that weren't following the rules. I'm not sure what is funnier, the fact that she was doing this or the fact that the other kids were actually following her directions! Keep in mind, she is the youngest in her class by many months. She is SO my child!

For a while now, I've been hearing stories about how Kaitlynn interacts with all the kids in her class. Even though she is the "baby" of the class she still thinks she owns the place. She is always trying to tell the other kids what to do, so the teacher tells her often, "Kaitlynn, you are not the teacher. I am." Despite her bossiness, she seems to be quite the social butterfly and just loves her little friends at school. When I saw these pictures taken by K's teacher, I just laughed out loud because it reminds me of pictures that I take with my friends (well, except for the chokehold). :-)

I'm starting to wonder if Kaitlynn is going to be the playground bully. She loves to boss the other kids and not in a kind way. I've witnessed this behavior twice already this week -- once at the doctor's office and once at the mall play area. She'll make a mad face, hold up her pointer finger, and yell "NO!" and sometimes even give the kid a good shove. Of course, I discipline her for this behavior but I do find it interesting that the other kids always seem to back down, ha! When I mentioned her bully-behavior to her Mother's Day Out teacher, she said that Kaitlynn wasn't mean, she's just in charge. Oh, so THAT'S what we're calling it these days?? :-)