2 good days!

Well I wanted to post again because I wanted to say that Jinbao is doing much better over the last two days. I think he thought about everything we told him during the last meltdown. On Tuesday he went to school and was picked on by someone in his ESOL class. He told us about it that evening but much of it was lost in the translation, he was very frustrated and did not want to go back to school. We basically understood that the boy punched him in the cheek making him bleed in his mouth so he punched the kid back in the head. We explained to him that he needs to get away from someone who is bothering him and tell a teacher. Of course he said they do not understand him. I think he thought we were mad at him and he was in trouble but we were just trying to find out the details so we could tell the school. Wednesday he had a doctor appointment for shots. His Dr is great and speaks mandarin. She usually would not see children for the shots but she "feels" for him. She talked to him for quite a while about what is bothering him and was able to get more information about what happened in school. She also encouraged him that once he speaks English things will get easier. She also told him to call her if he needs to talk and that she will call him every once in a while to see how he is doing. We have decided to no longer use the translator or speak to him in Chinese at home (unless it is really important) to encourage him to learn english. So Thursday morning I went to school with him and talked to his ESOL teacher. The teachers were all informed to watch him and make sure they stay separated. The assistant principal also called me so she could get to the bottom of it. At first I think he thought he was in trouble while I was talking to the ESOL teacher, but looked relieved when I told him they were going to keep the other boy away from him. Maybe knowing that I stood up for him made him trust us more. He came out of school happy each day since then and tells me the names of all his friends. Then, when he gets home he sits right down and works diligently on his homework. He also hasn't argued with us since. So maybe we needed the meltdowns to make progress. Of course I am not expecting it to be all good from now on (but I wouldn't mind it)! Two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward and we will get there.


Thanks for following! Donna