Conferences and nightlights

I went to Connor's first pre-K parent/teacher conference on Friday. I was expecting to hear pretty much the same thing as last year - something like "he's such a happy, friendly, active, energetic boy! He needs more work on his fine motor skills but he's a typical boy who'd rather be running than writing." Instead his teacher said that he's doing great with his fine motor skills - he's writing his name well and practicing other letters well. She did say that he's really active but that she puts that energy to use and lets him be the official "chair stacker" which he loves. She said that he sits nicely during circle time, takes direction well and is learning a lot.

What surprised me is the only thing that she's concerned about - his feelings! He's told me many times that his best friends are Andrew, Brody and Caleb (I jokingly call them his "ABC friends" because of their initials!). She said that Andrew and Brody are best buds and, try as he might, Connor hasn't really been able to break in and become friends with them. I guess they've been mean to him several times and that she's heard Connor say things like "but you can be friends with me too!" which she was impressed with - that he would try to reason with them and be so persistent. She said it breaks her heart how hard he tries to be friends with them and is rejected all the time! He hasn't shared any of this with us so I have mixed feelings about it. I'm glad that he's such a happy and resilient little guy that it doesn't get him down enough to be sad when he comes home but I want Andrew and Brody to be friends with him! Who wouldn't want to be friends with Connor? :) Nope, I'm not biased at all!

Anyway, it was good to hear he's doing well otherwise. She gave me a list of skills kids should have to be ready for kindergarten and he almost has them all already! The one area that still needs more practice is that whole writing thing but they're definitely working on it at school and we're doing some at home too so it'll come! There's almost a year until kindergarten so he has plenty of time! He's mastered almost all the other skills already - knows all his colors, recognizes all the upper and lower case letters, is starting to sound out words, can run and jump and kick and catch, is responsible for his own belongings (backpack, lunchbox), can use the bathroom independently (yes, that was a skill listed on there!), etc.

Here's another funny conversation we had in the car a few days ago...

Connor: Mommy, what do you want for your birthday?

Me: [surprised he somehow knows my birthday is in a couple weeks] Oh I don't know. You could make me a card.

Connor: No, Mommy. I can't make you a card. What do you want that I can buy at a store?

Me: Well, I'm not sure. I've been wanting a wireless mouse for my laptop. [yep, I'm a dork - I really do want one and it's cheap so I figured if he was taking this info back to Daddy I might as well ask for something I actually want!]

Connor: No, Mommy! I can't buy that. What else do you want?

Me: Ummm....

Connor: Ok, Mommy, what do you want that has a lightbulb in it?

Me: What?

Connor: What do you want that has a lightbulb in it?

Me: A...lamp? [Trying to figure out where he's going with this...]

Connor: No...try again.

Me: A...nightlight?

Connor: Yeah! That's what you want! I'm going to buy you a nightlight!

Me: I want a nightlight?!

Connor: Yes, I have one and it's great. You should really have one too.

So, I think I'm getting a nightlight for my 32nd birthday. It's just what I've always wanted! :)