Can Santa's Little Helpers Fix This?

Tink has had some problems with his behavior at school recently.

Although he is usually really well-behaved, nap time has 

become a nightmare for all of those involved.

He is only required to lay on a cot quietly for about 30 minutes.  

He doesn't have to sleep, but he does have to rest.

And he has to rest quietly.

Herein lies the problem.  

He doesn't want to rest.

He doesn't want to be quiet.

He doesn't want to stay on his cot.

He does, however, seem to want to cause Mama to lose her mind.

I'm at my wits end with this nap situation.

I've gone in to the school many, many times to talk with him about his behavior and his expectations at nap.  He usually seems to do ok when I've come in to have these talks right before nap time (or as far as I know, anyway), but when I don't come in, his bad days far outnumber his good ones.

This is no bueno.

He has suffered consequences because of his behavior.  

Earlier this week he had to miss out on PE (His Pre-k class goes over to one of the university's PE-major classes and participates in their lesson plans.  He loves it!) and a bowling party.  

Those "fun" things were taken away because he went all 

Chuck-Norris-style on his teacher during nap.  

Yes, he hit and kicked.

And, yes, I marched my not-so-happy self into his classroom as soon 

as I received the email stating as much.

And, yes, I gave him that Mama-look that clearly says, "You are 

lucky I am not inflicting harm upon you, mister."

And, yes, I sat there and told him in no uncertain terms how royally 

peeved I was and if I heard he had hit or kicked a teacher again, so help me...

That scary Mommy thing evidently doesn't last long because, just two 

short days later, I've received another email.  

  

While he is not hitting or kicking (thank goodness!), he is 

still not doing what he is suppose to be doing.

Instead, he apparently decided today that he was going to climb up a 

stack of cots and sit on top of those rather than lay on his own.  

We can all probably guess he was not climbing quietly, either.

  

So, I wondered what I was going to do.

First, I decided he was not going to go to the SIU Women's 

basketball game with my parents.

But, while he still isn't going, he didn't ever know it was planned for him to go in the first place, so I'm not sure it will have much of an effect.

[Completely different topic: I cannot write the words "effect" or "affect" now without thinking of my friend, Ashley.  The "E"-ffect is the "RE"-sult. ;)]

I needed something bigger.

That was when I realized the biggest thing I have right now is Ben.

Who is Ben?

He is our Elf on the Shelf. 

Here he is last year, planking on one of The Hubs' soccer balls in our living room:

Anyway, I thought I could get Ben to help me convince Tink to behave at school.

Here is where he was found this morning.

Tink was SUPER stoked that Ben had finally made it to our house.

He woke up to see Ben looking at him from the brim of the 

snowman's hat in his bedroom.

That snowman had also magically appeared in his room last night.  

Seriously, this kid was REALLY excited.

Based on the conversation we had after his speech therapy this morning, I know he is really excited to see Ben again when he gets home.

Well, this is where Mama is planning to play her "Ben card."  

Ben will no longer be in his spot on the snowman as Tink expects him to be.  

This will be there instead:

Yep.

A letter from Ben.

Here is what it says:

Dear Tink,

I was watching you during nap time today.  I saw that you were not quiet and you did not lay on your cot.  I also saw that you did not wear your listening ears when your teachers asked you to be quiet and rest.  I had to leave your house early today so I could tell Santa about your behavior.  

I will try to come back tomorrow, but I can't make any promises.  It depends on how quickly I can get a meeting with Santa.

Please, please, please work hard to be better behaved and wear your listening ears.  I really want to stay here to see you play and have fun.  Plus, I want to be able to tell Santa what an awesome kid you are!

Love, Ben

P.S. Please give Goose a hug and kiss from me.  Tell him I said "thanks" for being so well-behaved today!

So, now we cross our fingers and hope Ben's words carry more weight 

than Mama's or Daddy's or Tink's teachers' do.

I am really hoping he will listen to Ben.

I'm really hoping this will be enough to encourage him to do what 

he is suppose to be doing during nap time from here on out. 

I'm really not crazy enough to hold my breath, however...

We'll see, I guess.

I'll let you know if this silly little elf is the hero of our household this holiday season.

In the meantime, just say a prayer for Tink's teachers.

Bless their hearts for being SO patient with him, especially after 

he performed his kung-fu moves on them.

They are quite a gift in our lives.

Hopefully Ben will be their hero, too!