Progress

True to form, he refused to smile or even look at the camera.  Hey, we can't change everything about him at once, right?

Cole has been rockin' preschool this year.  (Last year?  Not so much.  This year?  YES!)  Seriously, he has been so good!  He's like a new child!  

Well, as far as preschool goes.  At home he's still very much Cole.

True story: this morning Lance teased me about how I must be naughty all the time because Santa gives me "Cole" all year round.  It's tragically funny because it's true.

But, as everyone does once in a while, Cole had a bad day at preschool today.  Apparently he got into a scuffle over the mat he wanted to sit on and it was downhill from there.  (His teachers, by the way, were surprised by this - he's usually very well behaved.) (!!!)  

When the kids leave each day they get a stamp on their hands if they've been good.  Poor Cole did not get a stamp today.

The poor child ran out to me and grabbed onto my legs, and started sobbing.  It just about broke my heart.

But, evil mother that I am, it also made me extremely happy.

Why?

Because when Cole was naughty at preschool last year he never cared.  He was belligerent and ornery and didn't give a flying flip if he got a dang stamp on his hand or not.  But now?  Now he cares.  Now he knows what happens if he doesn't follow the rules and he doesn't like it.

Miracles happen; there is hope.

I hugged him and soothed him and took the upset child home.  We talked about what happened over a steaming cup of hot chocolate and decided that he would be better on Thursday.

This is progress, people.

And if it takes a bad day to show that progress?  Well, I'll take it.