In the last several weeks, each student in Kaia’s 3K class took turns taking home the class stuffed animal named Waddles the penguin. The goal is to take Waddles on different daily adventures with them, write notes about what they did together, then report back to school on what they did. During individual presentations with a caregiver in tow, the student would read aloud their favorite book and share their poster with the rest of the class.

Today, it was Kaia’s turn to share what adventures she took Waddles on. During the last several days, Chris took photos of Kaia and Waddles doing different activities. He filled out the Star of the Week poster and also the notebook recording activities together. I came to her class at 9:30 this morning to present with her. And well, it was similar to the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival activity back in September where she didn’t really want to participate and wanted me to do everything. She got really shy and refused to face the class. One of the teachers and I had to keep coaxing her. So, I interacted with the teachers and students. I read the book aloud (of course, she still doesn’t read, so this was always going to be the case), and I shared with the class what she did. All the while, she said her ankle, knee, and leg hurt. She found random bits of dust on her pants and shirt and kept going to the trash bin to throw them away. And while going through the book, she called out that “Daddy loves chocolate” or, “I love beets!” All in all, it was definitely MY presentation. At the end, her main teacher presented her a box of surprise rewards, and she pulled out a long, colorful, stacked macaron pen. I looked at it and thought….. Hmmmm. Shouldn’t that be my reward because I was ultimately the one who did this presentation?

All parenting and early child development resources almost universally on the fact that almost all children will act worse and more baby-like and needy when their mother is around. It’s a sign they know they are in safe place and will always be protected. I suppose the rationale is very positive, but the outcome (e.g. in this case, this presentation) is not always positive.