Tales From The Day Care Workers

Today when I went to pick Jayla up from school, one of her teachers (the one who actually never talks to me when I pick her up) looked up at me as I walked through the door. She startled me when she blurted out, "Oh! I need to tell you what happened today!" All sorts of scary thoughts ran through my head but, I kept my cool and replied, "Okay?" as I gather Jayla's belongings.

She proceeded to tell me a convoluted, long-winded story that I still don't remember the details of. But, the gist of it was this: Jayla walked up to her and said, "Potty." So, she asked Jayla if she wanted to sit on the big girl potty and Jayla, in true Jayla fashion, shook her head and said, "No."

I can totally picture that entire exchange between the two of them because if Jayla knows how to do nothing else, she knows how to contradict herself.

Then...something, something, something...she put Jayla on the toilet and Jayla sat there for 2 or 3 minutes until she decided to get up from the potty. When she got up, she ended up pooping on the floor - timed it a little wrong, I guess.

So, while I was all disgusted at the thought of cleaning poop off the floor that does not belong to your own child whom you gave birth to, the teacher was grinning ear to ear at Jayla's accomplishment. She was so excited that Jayla told her that she needed to use it and then actually used it. The teachers seem to think that she is, therefore, well on her way to potty-training land. I'm not entirely convinced but, I received the story with all of the enthusiasm that they told it with.

As Jayla and I walked down the hall towards the front desk, the teacher at the front desk says, "Here comes the diva!" - complete with the whole 3-snaps-in-a-z-formation. Not sure how to receive the comment, I asked, "Is that how she acts around here?". Ummm...apparently, that is entirely how Jayla is known by approximated 100% of the employees at that school. Because as we stood there, several teachers came up and they all had their own example of Jayla's diva attitude. The storied cracked me up.

But, quite honestly, I could not be happier with how confident and assertive she is. I don't know if that's just a regular toddler trait at this stage but, based on her teachers, it is not - or at least she adds her own flair to it all. I know I will be less happy with some of these characteristics during her teenage years but, ultimately, I wouldn't have it any other way. My job is to just help her refine it so that she is not perceived negatively by people who don't understand her attitude...just like my mama did for me...