Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Bornehaven Stories

Scotty can say his first Danish sentence. "I'm going to the little toilet." His teacher told me that he said it today because he hears the other kids say it. She said that he is repeating lots of words that they say. I wish I could hide behind something and watch him at school... :)

I picked him up from bornehaven and one of the teachers was giving him a ride on the bike. He's too small to pedal the bike so he always sits in the little wagon attached to the back of it. His teacher is very nice... doesn't speak ANY English; but VERY nice. :)

At play gym today I told his teacher that he was in Danish school so she could try Danish with him instead of English... I'm so mean. :) It went okay though. I feel sorry for him sometimes though. He can't talk to anyone. People say that three year olds don't play "with" other kids, they play "next" to them, but it would still nice for Scotty to be able to say "My car can fly" or, "Let's drive fast" or, "You hide here". I watch him talk to kids and watch them just ignore him and it's sad.

I do need to teach him how to say "Don't hit me" and "Leave me alone" in Danish. He gets picked on by the bigger 4,5,and 6 year old boys at school. I picked him up the other day and a huge monster kid was hitting him on the back. Had I been closer I would have picked up that bully by his grubby little snowcoat and flung him into the bushes. I saw Scotty swing back at him though. I'm okay with that. Maybe I shouldn't be. I don't want him to let people hit him. He's got to stick up for himself. So he should probably go tell the teacher. I don't know... but if someone hits him - I say hit them back!

OUUUU BAD PARENT! VIOLENT AMERICAN MOTHER.

I'm not going to endorse hitting. I won't tell him to hit back. I'll even tell him not to hit. BUT If some big kid is pushing him around - kick some butt Scotty! I'm not going to punish him for sticking up for himself. If he has a unprovoked hitting problem than that's another story... but not my innocent little Scotty. :) He's so cute. :)

I'm sure he's not being abused on a daily basis. He still likes going... once he gets there. He does have a huge bruise on his cheek (in case it shows up in any upcoming pictures)... he was twirling around with his sister and he got dizzy and fell on the floor. Goofball. But no matter what he says Sierra did NOT push him. I saw it happen. :)

6 comments:

Lisa said...

Aw, I am sure he will be speaking with the kids in no time. I am with ya on not letting a bully hit on him. I say "good mommy"!

Anonymous said...

I went here just for asking about if Scotty has started to talk some Danish yet, and find out that you just wrote about it. Strange!
I guess he will be the best in your family in Danish when you move from Denmark. He will have to translate for you for the rest of your time, since I also think that he already knows a lot and one day he will just start to talk fluently. Children are amazing.
But what ugly children hitting him! Tell the teachers to have an eye on them!
See you!
Ingrid

Kelli Nørgaard said...

I remember my first Danish sentence was not as good as Scotty´s, so kudos to him!! :o) He has only been there a few weeks and I am sure that within no time at all, he will get his own "kid language" with the other kids... Kids amazed me at how durable and flexible their spirits are....so hang in there. I know it is tough to be the mommy on the sidelines watching it..... but I think " SLÅ IKKE MIG" is a great place for you to intervene!! (No clue if that is right grammatically, but in my brain it says DO NOT HIT ME!) LOL

BABS said...

...eller: "VI SLÅ IKKE!" That's what I say to ruffians who duff up my littlest, while yes, taking a good hold of them and hoisting them with controlled force away from said youngest.

The big boys always beat the crap out of the littler ones, it's a tradition...LOL, and I am not sure it is just confined to the Danish børnehaver. Bullying is endemic to our society (is that TO or IN? Not sure.)

I say, arm the little kids with pepper spray and a little kiddie sized cosh and train them when and how to use them. LOL.

I wonder why some kids are so mean? And I wonder why some kids get away with it and others don't?

It's not acceptable, in DK culture, for a parent to be on one side or another if their kid's getting battered by another kid. The way here is to be kinda neutral and see it as a 'conflict' that needs to be 'solved'.

Personally, over the many years I have been a mother, and before that being au pair, and before that being big sister, I have always done it my way.

Anyone remember that scene in the 'Hand that rocks the cradle' (film about psycho nanny) where she drags the little bully to one side?

I'm not quite that bad, but I have the ability to show that I probably could be just in my gentle eerie hushed voice. In extreme cases I will speak directly to the kids doing the bullying and not call a meeting. 100% of the time it shocks a bully to know that they incur the wrath of a protective parent and they will cease, out of fear, yes, but why the bejeezuz should they be allowed to explore their bullying natures?

I say, nip it in the bud, say most strongly that you don't like what the bully is doing, say it to the bullies face and then make sure your kid knows how to say: "We do not hit!" in Danish.

We do not hit, no, but we do 'have a word'.

Pah. ooer Tara, I'm all fired up now. LOL.

P.s: I don't think that you are going to need your kids to translate for you. If you were planning on staying here then you would grasp command of the Danish just as swiftly as children are able to. Kids are no quicker than children at learning Danish, it's just that the adults get teased far more than kids for not learning 'quick enough'.

;)

Anonymous said...

"Kids are no quicker than children at learning Danish"

What's the difference between kids and children? I thought kids was just the American word for children?

Tara said...

Kids, Children, Rugrats... they are all the same. :) Just think that was a little typo.

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