Nothing to talk about.

I wish that I could decipher DNA and know if it has anything to do with behavior..

My dear daughter came home from school yesterday (yes, the first day) with a stomach ache and a headache. I know that some kids are excited for school to start and some have problems with anxiety. My girl is the latter of the two, while her older brother tends to be part of the excited group.

I wish I knew if this was something that she inherited... and this is why. When Curt was a kindergartner, his teacher thought there was something wrong with him. She called his mother in to ask if he knew how to talk. Curt's Mom (S) thought this was a little funny, because, OF COURSE he knew how to talk. He was actually a very bright kid, got pretty good grades. When S asked Curt why he didn't talk in class, he just said that he didn' t have anything to say. He still doesn't have much to say (unless it's about RC airplanes).

Now, onto the girl. So... she's been given the title of "Quietest Girl in Class" for 3 years running. When I ask her why she doesn't talk, the response is normally a shoulder shrug. Last year, one of the reasons her teacher didn't want her to move on from 4th grade was because Alyssa never talked in class. (the other reason was because she has bad handwriting.) The one time that she did talk, was to correct her teacher to tell her that what she was talking about was not a trapezoid, but a parallelogram. Now, I would think that the teacher would call me about my daughter talking too much in class but to call me in because she doesn't talk, you would think that she'd be happy about this.

Alyssa does in fact know how to talk, she's very good at it and there are sometimes that we can't get her to be quiet, but teachers intimidate her. Her first grade teacher was not a very nice person (she's happily retired) and kind-of picked on her. She would often withhold recess time because Alyssa had been chewing on her eraser, so she became intimidated by teachers. She just quit talking.

I wonder if a lot of this has to do with DNA because the man and the girl are so similar in looks and personality. Aaron inherited a lot of my looks, but also my personality and isn't afraid of much. We'll see what happens with Hayden.

I love them all and still wouldn't trade them for the world.