Jackson and School

My son just doesn't like school. Ever since the days of mom's day out and preschool, Jackson just didn't like it. He'd wake up every morning and ask "Do I have to go to school today?" The answer was always yes. He went and he always seemed to be fine when I picked him up, but the next day, the same question.

Once he started kindergarten, I didn't hear that question again. Jackson seemed to love going to school, although he still wasn't a fan of the "work" part of school. Jackson is very social and has a lot of confidence...he'll talk to anyone. So, the social part of school was what he liked. He did fine in 1st grade as well, didn't mind going although he occasionally got notices sent home that he "couldn't control his talking" or "wasn't focusing on his work." To combat those issues, for this year I kind of requested that he be separated from his good buddies. I thought this would help him concentrate better in class. After the first two weeks of school, I thought I had made a mistake. Jackson again was asking every morning why he had to go to school and even crying because he had to go. He said he didn't have any friends in his class and no one would talk to him. I felt so bad. Like I had really made a mistake as a parent. I was talking to my mom about it and she told me that my little brother was always the same way...even all the way through college! Good grief. Do I have that many more years of this to look forward to?

Well, today, I stopped feeling bad. Jackson got his first weekly behavior report from school today. The two categories marked as "needs improvement" were...drum roll please..."controlling excessive talking" and "following directions." Sheesh! I asked him, "if you don't have any friends in class and no one will talk to you...why can't you control your excessive talking!?!" His answer..."I made a friend."