Enfant Terrible

For two days last week, my 4-year-old was insanely disruptive during quiet time at school (the kids don't have to sleep, but they do have to rest quietly). Wednesday, she was screaming. Not crying-screaming, screaming as loudly and shrilly as possible and then laughing when everyone covered their ears. If someone asked (or told) her to stop, she'd laugh and do it again. Oh, and she was hitting other kids. Also, at some point during all this, she somehow got ahold of a pair of scissors and was snipping them at a classmate. I had to pick her up early.

Some background: my daughter is a peer model in a special needs preschool class. This means that she is NOT special needs herself (every time I tell someone about her class, they're all like "oh, so she's delayed or something?" NO! She's too damn smart for her own good. No, YOU'RE being defensive.) Being a peer model means that she's there to set the developmental bar for the kids with delays. Except that with this recent behavior, the teachers are having to spend more time and energy dealing with her than working with the kids who actually have IEP's (Individual Education Plans). Which means that she needs to get it together soon or she's going to be dismissed from the class, and how bad does that sound?

"It all started when she got kicked out of special-needs preschool, it was a downward spiral after that. She started smoking, knocked over liquor store and killed a man. Yeah, she's the youngest felon ever."

No, YOU'RE overreacting.

So it was pretty much the same thing on Thursday. I had to leave class early to go pick her up because she was out of control. When we got home, I took away all of her toys. All of them. I left her books, that's it (because, you know, literacy). No stuffed animals, no puzzles, no dress-up clothes, no musical instruments, etc. For each day that she listens and behaves, she gets one toy back. If she has a bad day, those toys go right back in the closet. No more Miss Nice Mommy.

On Friday, she was an angel. Coincidence?