Well.

We all know my eldest is…strong-willed? spirited? outgoing? Not really sure exactly what to call it but, yes, I wondered how long it would take preschool to figure this out.

Four days.

Last week, on her fourth day of school, I got in the line to pick her up and I saw a lady look at the name on my dashboard to know which child to bring me and then she went back in the building.

I turned my head the other direction and when I turned back to look at the door out came Little Bug…with her teacher.

Remember, I used to be a teacher.

I knew this wasn’t good.

I geared myself up to hear whatever she was going to tell me about my darling child.

She told me briefly what had happened at school that day and then told me to give her a call whenever I got the chance.

I drove to the end of the parking lot, got out and went to the backseat where Little Bug sat in her car seat.

And we talked about the day.

She admitted she had not obeyed Mrs. S the first time, but her focus was on the little dumb-dumb lollipop that she held in her hand.

She wanted to enjoy her treat – now. But I had to tell her she would not be able to eat that special treat because she had not made good choices at school that day and in order to enjoy special treats we must obey our teacher the first time.

And, yes, of course, a bucket full of tears ensued after that.

And the little dumb-dumb now resides in a spot out of reach but in plain sight so that Little Bug can hopefully enjoy that treat after her next day of school and after she chooses to obey her teachers the first time.

I must admit I was just waiting for this moment. I knew it was going to happen.

When my mother picked me up from preschool she would hear things like, “She actually said a word today!!!” and I knew from the start I was going to be the mother that would get “bad” reports on the misconduct of their child that day.

What I am going to say next is for all the Mamas out there with a little firecracker of a kid who is strong-willed and spirited or whatever you want to call it…

When I was pulling out of the school that day I could have allowed myself to be embarrassed that I am “that parent” with the child who misbehaves.

But, no.

Yes, I am the parent of one of “those kids”: the strong-willed firecracker type – but are not ALL kids interesting little creatures that need to taught, molded and trained in the ways of the Lord?

It’s just that these little strong-willed firecracker types stand out among all the rest because they naturally call attention to themselves. They are not wall flowers (like I was as a child) and they need their parents to teach them, mold them and train them in the ways of the Lord.

It’s not easy.

There are times when I think to myself, I do not know how to raise this kid!!

But I refuse to fall prey to the stereotypical views of parents of “these kids”. And neither should you!

Instead, we must seek the LORD for wisdom in raising these children and figure out what behavioral methods work to bring about positive results.

I don’t know what causes her to feel the need to decide that even though ALL the kids in her classroom are happily painting, she doesn’t want to paint, so she is going to take her smock off and declare, “I do not want to paint!”.

I see something special within the heart of my strong-willed firecracker kid! God is going to do something amazing with that strong spirit. She won’t give up easily in life and she will be determined to see things through to the end.

As her parent, it is not my job to feel embarrassed because my child’s 3 year old preschool teacher came out to my car to talk to me on the fourth day of school! It is my job to be informed about what is going on at preschool so I can continue to mold this little girl into the Godly woman God desires her to be.

It’s an exhausting job, but one that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the entire world.

- Elaine