There's one in every class

Each time I pick the boys up from preschool, we chat about their day as I buckle them into their carseats and on the ride home. They tell me what they had for snack, what they played with and what their job had been that day. And I also usually hear about John.

At first it was just little things that he did in class. Not listening to the teacher, running out of the classroom or trying to open the gate at the playground.

Then I started to hear:
"John took my toy away"
"John pushed a girl and then John pushed AIDAN" (Aidan hardly shares this type of detail so I rely on Gavin to fill me in)
"John hit me on the head with a car"

None of this bothers me too much, mainly because I realize, as a former teacher, that these things happen and the teacher cannot be aware of absolutely everything that goes on. I just hope that my boys do not retaliate but rather, use their words to tell the child to stop. On the last pick-up the teacher said to me "Gavin had sand thrown at him today and he was very upset about it." I asked Gavin what he did when he had the sand thrown and he told me he said "No!". I told him I was very proud of him for using his words. Later on the way home, I asked Gavin who threw sand at him and he answered as I thought he might: "John".

There is one in every class. I am just glad it is not one of mine.