Kindergarten is TOUGH!

For Parents ... It has been a tough week for Mr. ESPN and me.  Miss Chatty has had less than stellar behavior at Boys and Girls Club (BGC).  I got a call on Tuesday afternoon that she had "hit" one of the staff.  Apparently she "hit" the staff on her arm (per Chatty to get her attention to tell her something).  The staff explained why it was wrong and asked her not to do it again.  A short while later when they were in the gym, Chatty ran over to her and basically "tackled" the same staff member while she was crouched down speaking to another child.  Since this was her second incident that afternoon she was escorted to the director's office for "time out" and on the way there Chatty screamed "No" and hit the staff on the arm.  What do you say to the director when they call to tell you something like that?  I was shocked and upset and a lot of other things.  I assured the Director we would address the issue with Chatty and to please let me know if anything else happened.  She was very nice about the whole thing but still I was mortified.

Mr. ESPN and I spoke with Chatty about it and strictly informed her she is to keep her hands to herself at all times - no touching anyone!  So do you think it worked - ummm NO!  Yesterday I get home and Mr. ESPN tells me Chatty pushed a kid and he hit his head on the wall (he was fine).  She claimed she was pushed first.  While I want to believe her, I am having a hard time because she tends to fabricate lie some of her stories.  So I explained to her that if someone pushes you then you tell them not to and walk away.  If they do it again then you tell the staff.  If she has one more incident she will have the equivalent of in BGC suspension, the one after that out of BGC suspension (similar to in school and out of school suspension).  What the heck is going on her in head?  I tried to convey the seriousness of her actions to her last night and this morning and told her how much I love her but that I am disappointed in her behavior choices.  I feel like I keep saying the same old thing and it isn't working.  We have taken away pretty much everything for a week (Wii, stuffed animals, blankies, books, you name it) and she will be missing a birthday party this weekend.  I just don't know where to go from here.

After dropping Chatty off this morning I kept thinking what are we doing wrong - is she going to be one of those kids with issues and appears on America's Most Wanted someday?  Is it because I work outside the home and don't spend enough time with her (if I was home full time I am sure she would have other issues)?  While I sincerely think she is old enough to understand the consequences for the decisions she makes I still can't help but feel partially fully responsible.  No one told me Kindergarten was going to be this tough!