Only wanting chips for tea is just a sign of A growing ‘self-autonomy’
“Emma had to go to the headmaster for hitting a teacher,” Thomas whispered to me, as she busied herself torturing a fluffy monkey.
Surprised and a little unnerved, I asked him why she would hit a teacher.
And he informed me she’d been pulling the curtains down, the teacher told her to stop, so Emma hit her.
It seemed dramatic but she had started very gently hitting me if I asked her to tidy up. So I went straight to my main resource for childcare advice and consulted Doctor Google.
Apparently, she’s asserting independence, which is to be commended, but if we leave her to do only what she wants, she’d spend her days watching Paw Patrol and eating ice cream. Unfortunately, this desire for self-autonomy is growing and has extended into meals and she’ll now refuse anything she’s unsure of, and demand sausage and chips.
Once again, I went to Google for advice and discovered someone advocating making teatime into a taste test by preparing three different meals. This way, Emma chooses what she eats, which is of course ludicrous, as it’s a struggle to find time to cook one meal, let alone three every night. The other top tip is to serve the same meal on more than 10 occasions and they’ll eventually adapt and eat it.
Well, Emma has been served Mediterranean vegetable lasagne on 10 separate occasions and admirably, she’s sticking to her original decision
to not eat it and asking for chips.
Given this desire for independence and strong will, there was potential for violence against an authority figure.
Thankfully, we had parents’ evening in a few days, where they’d probably say if Emma was hitting people.
When we arrived in the school, I noticed the rooms had blinds, not curtains, shedding a little doubt on Thomas’s tale.
And then we had a jolly chat with Emma’s teacher, who explained she was gaining confidence, making friends and noticeably didn’t mention uncontrolled violence. Despite this, I asked if she was assaulting anyone and vandalising classrooms. This was met with a loud guffaw to which the teacher replied, “Gosh no, our little Emma, she wouldn’t do that”.
The teacher explained there’s a procedure of informing parents and putting a plan in place with issues such as violence.
Emma was most definitely innocent, and her name had been cleared, but Thomas needs a lesson in the laws of slander before he blackens her good name again.