Duck, duck, goose

Last Tuesday I dropped Amelia off to play at her gymnastics class while I went to get a permanent crown. Diana watched mommy in the dentist's chair and was a very good girl, despite the fact that she had been feeling a little peaked and had a slight fever.

After another exciting trip to Target and a quickie stop at Home Depot I went to retrieve Amelia. Drop off hours are normally from noon to three and I arrived to pick up Amelia around 2:45. When I reached class I was surprised to see a large number of other children playing. Amelia wanted to join there group, though they were all older than she and this seemed okay since it wasn't quite three anyway.

The kids, about 15 in all, joined hands and formed a circle. Then they proceeded to play, "duck, duck, goose." Well, Amelia has no idea how to play duck, duck, goose; but she likes both ducks and geese and she loves running around and having a good time. Let me tell you, watching Amelia was exhausting. The way Amelia understands duck, duck, goose someone walks around the circle tapping children on the head saying, "duck" until at some point they say, "goose." Once the child says, "goose" that kid jumps up and chases the one tapping the other children's heads. This is also when Amelia jumps up and runs around the circle. Regardless of who is actually "it" Amelia always runs around the circle. Sometimes the older children would try to keep Amelia seated, but it was no use. She had such a terrific time that afternoon, it was hard to get her to come home.

The following day was Amelia's regularly scheduled class. However, her small class of three didn't look anywhere near as much fun as the spring break group of 12 or so older students who were jumping and playing on trampolines. Again, it was all I could do to keep her with her class. She cried a couple of times when I told her to stay with our group and focus on the teacher's instructions.

I worry that Amelia doesn't have enough discipline. She just seems wilder than the other girls (and some of the boys). As I was thinking aloud about a "time out" chair my mother-in-law reminded me that the last time I tried using a time out chair Amelia rolled the chair down the hall and told me to sit on it. So, what do you do? I guess I'll just continue to be as firm and patient as I can possibly be.

Lisa