Thornton: The Biter!

So, school drama continues. Thornton has had his "second incident" of biting at school. We spend lots of time now discussing "No Biting". He gets so mad when people take his toys that he bites out of frusteration. It must be hard to not be able to communicate. Here's the note we got from Thornton's teacher (exhibit 242 that she is an amazing teacher):
Aspen – I just wanted to let you know that today Thornton bit one of his friends on the finger – he grabbed it and put it in his mouth before we could get to him. He bit it really hard, leaving teeth indentations that stayed for a while, but it didn’t break the skin. While biting is not considered abnormal at the two-year-old level, we still don’t tolerate it. He had a short time-out in the “listening chair”. He didn’t really seem upset, didn’t cry or fuss at all, and sat nicely for the 3 minutes we asked. He wouldn’t apologize (again, common, don’t worry!) but he did smile at the friend afterwards. He really just wanted her toy and was focused on getting that; it wasn’t anything really malicious.

At DPCC we have a biting policy that we call home the first time – we stayed busy every minute today – so I’m sending this email instead. The second time a child bites we are supposed to call and have you come pick him up immediately. I am hoping you can talk with him about this at home, we will remind him of the no biting rule as soon as he arrives at school for a few days, and we’ll be even more vigilant to head things off before they happen. Our goal is not to have to make a phone call to you!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have questions or concerns.

Please don’t worry too much – Thornton is usually sweet, good-natured, and fun-loving at school!
Amy

So, Jason and I called her and talked to her and she was super supportive. Evidently, Thornton is an advanced creative thinker (must be from me!)... he does very extensive imaginative play (we do that a lot at home) and he gets upset when someone has a toy that he has as a part of his imaginative play. Amy said, it's totally normal, but is frusterating.

He's doing bette and definately knows "no biting". Yesterday when we were playing, I nipped at his ear and he said "mommy - no biting - time out". So mommy had to sit on the stairs for 2 minutes until the timer went off (set by Thornton), then she apologized for biting and asked if he was ok. After a quick hug mommy was let out of timeout. Hope for the future.