Feelings and Friendships

Mia has now been in her new preschool for 6 weeks, and the change is noticeable. For one thing, she is louder. Her new classroom is bigger in square footage and there are a lot more kids, so the children have to speak up to be heard over the din.

For another thing, Mia is more expressive about her feelings. We often hear, "I don't like it when you do that. It makes me feel bad."

They must talk a lot about best friends, as in who is best friends with whom. For a couple of weeks, Mia declared daily that E (a boy) was her best friend. She also told me that "J and J (girls) are best friends, so they are not my best friend." As time passes, she seems to be entering the inner circle with the other girls, because now any child might be her best friend on any given day.

Oh, and she tells Jeff and I that we're her best friends - except when she gets mad at us. Then she says, "You're not my best friend!!!!!" Our comeback of course, is, "Mia it makes me feel bad when you say that." That is often enough to make her stop in her tracks, reflect, and say "I'm sorry, Mom. You're my best friend."