nickichicki

36 Comments

• san replied 12 years ago

  This is a beautiful and unique outfit. Striking!

• Joy replied 12 years ago

  There's leopard and there's leopard..not all seem to be created equal, but this is an especially nice print with the detail of little pleats at the waist. How does one find your ebay shop?

• taylor replied 12 years ago

  Everything is better when YOU wear this leopard!! gorgeous!

  Your little one is probably not able to express himself/feelings in the right words .... frustration = anger...don't fret too much Mommy these things work out in time. He is only in preschool and they don't always adequately know how to communicate feelings until much later...he's normal and will be just fine I am sure.:) Helping him learn how to express what he is feeling instead of lashing out/hitting/yelling is just something all children must learn.

• Sole Femme Trader replied 12 years ago

  This is simply drop dead gorgeous. No ifs, ands, or buts. Gorgeous.

• HelenInCanada replied 12 years ago

  The outfit is awesome! Meow! ;)

  Aw, I understand it can be tricky when our kids don't "adjust" to a new routine so quickly. Not having met your son or knowing all the details, from my own past experience as a teacher (and now a mom) I can tell you to be patient, encouraging, and positive and NOT make it a big deal in front of your son. Boys are well known to have a HUGE amount of energy (*ducking from the uber feminists), and sometimes, sitting and listening to story time or doing something that takes long periods of concentration can be VERY hard for them. They get restless. Nothing critical. It's preschool -they should be mainly playing, for goodness sakes! As long as he is not hurting other kids, his energy should be somewhat channelled into more physical tasks - building things, hide & seek, etc. I wouldn't worry too much - and good luck nicoleb!

• Joy replied 12 years ago

  Taylor has an excellent point about your son's behavior. I've noticed that those who have a big vocabulary early are less likely to be the ones to throw a tantrum because they can express themselves and don't become as frustrated. Children figure these things out at different rates. He's still very young. Does he like to be read to?
  Also, at his preschool are the children all expected to do things together? This is a hard thing to learn if he's not used to it.

• Ginny replied 12 years ago

  Great outfit!! What a fun skirt indeed!! Hang in there with the little one, it is hard to adjust and I agree with Helen, hang in there and patience is the key, even tough it is hard!!

• MsMary replied 12 years ago

  Nicole, you look beautiful!! What an elegant outfit!!

  I have no advice about your little one, just some Mommy hugs for you!!

• ManidipaM replied 12 years ago

  Nicole, what an unique outfit --- and so very you! L.O.V.E that shirt. Every time I open a WIW from you, I know there's a feast waiting for my eyes.

  About your little lad, I think there are good points already made about the ability to express/vocabulary vs frustration. Also, as someone who used to be *that* child, I wonder if your son is perhaps a bit shy or introverted? If that IS the case, even with a great vocab and fabulous self-expression AND confidence (tall order in tiny tot just going to school!), he might find people around him are not patient enough to wait and hear him out, or that he simply does not want to communicate/interact as much as he's being led into. This too can be immensely frustrating as well.

  What worked for me, I recall, was my mother teaching me to *ask* for a timeout when I felt overwhelmed --- you'll of course need his teacher to be on board for this, but this teaches him to (a) know that it is acceptable/frustrated to feel overwhelmed and he WILL be supported through it, which automatically reduces the fuel for anger, and (b) learn to watch for his own pre-outburst internal state and triggers, which can in themselves slow him down and defuse the situation sometimes.

  Hope he's a happier bunny at school soon!

• Vildy replied 12 years ago

  I love this kind of pattern mixing.

• Claudia replied 12 years ago

  This is such a stunning outfit, just beautiful.

  And hugs from one mom to another.

• Jjsloane replied 12 years ago

  Gorgeous outfit.

  Hugs on your issues with your son. Been there. At that age my son was also acting out a lot. One thing that seemed to help was we found he really missed having afternoon naps. He was tired. He also would not eat anything at lunch (picky eater) so he was hungry. If you've eliminated these issues, sometimes it's just growing out of a phase. We worked alot on how to handle anger with just walk away and positive reinforcement when he had good days (no reported incidents).

• nicoleb replied 12 years ago

  Thanks everyone to the comments about the outfit AND your mom thoughts and ideas. :)

  Jjsloane - this sounds a lot like my son. He still takes afternoon naps but on days he goes to school (2 days a week) he does not because he has afternoon class. He's also a really picky eater and gets cranky when hungry but because i know that i make sure to give him a lunch full of things he knows he likes to try to help avoid this.

  Without making this overly long i'll give two examples of the times he's gotten himself in enough trouble at school to get sent to the office. :(

  The first time he was building a bridge out of blocks with the other kids. He told the kids he would be right back to get something and asked them to not take the bridge down. He came back and they had and he doesn't handle it and got really upset. Teacher sent him to the office to calm down.

  The 2nd time (this past week) he was playing with other kids at some kind of table the teacher had set up for them to explore. Teacher asked him to come do a different activity with her and he told her he didn't want to because he wasn't done playing yet. She said fine but next time they switched he would need to. She asked him the 2nd time and he yelled at her. And then in turn was yelling at the other kids because they were taking what he was playing with. Sent to the office. Teacher told my husband (i was at work that day) that two kids told her they did not want to come back to school because of my son. x.x

  I've volunteered a couple time at his class but i guess i'm just going to keep it up as much as i can. At home so far we've talked about different ways to respond and alternatives of what to do and how to handle it when things don't go your way. We play board games because they're something no one can control who wins. We're currently reading a book series "Learning to Get Along" which deals with a lot of these issues. I've put on a play for him with his stuffed animals with different problems that arise and how to work around them. I'm going to talk to his teacher the next time he has class to see if she wants to sit down with me so we can talk and get on the same page so to speak, see if she has ideas etc. Both times he's gotten in trouble have happened on Thursdays, when my husband picks him up so i haven't been able to talk to her much about it.

  Thanks for listening and again, for all your advice! Please keep it coming if you have anymore thoughts! Sorry that did end up being long. @_@

• JennyAnne replied 12 years ago

  Agreed about the leopard print! I love the romantic, fun pairing you made. Very striking!

  I hope you and your son can work everything out. I think that at preschool age, kids learn and change so quickly - hopfully he'll figure out better ways to express himself as you talk to him and he matures a bit. I'm no expert - just a fellow preschool mom. :-) For what it's worth, when my son had some behavior issues earlier in the year, tying his TV time to his behavior that day at school (as reported by his teacher) fixed the problem very quickly. :-)

• nicoleb replied 12 years ago

  Thanks Jenny. Your thoughts are really helpful and calming. To hear my husband tell it, if he doesn't shape up he's going to be kicked out of preschool. It'll be good when i can go in and talk to his teacher myself.

• Meredith1953 replied 12 years ago

  You look gorgeous as you always do in all your postings! I don't have children so I can't offer any advice but what I am hearing from other people in this thread sounds like such good advice! Hope you find the tools you and he both need to overcome these challenges.

• Sarah A replied 12 years ago

  outfit is great. In mpls (right?) I would recommend Julie Peters ECFE classes for a parent support group and tips. I believe these are free or very low cost and evening options are available. The daytime options are probably a different demographic as I think they were targeted at teen mothers trying to finish school. Anyway, she was my neighbor growing up and has been working in the parenting field for probably 30 years or more.

• marianna replied 12 years ago

  I can't believe you're selling that skirt! It is stunning on you. The whole outfit is really gorgeous.

• replied 12 years ago

  The toughness of the shoes and belt, the romance of the blouse, the fabness of the leopard. . . love everything about this!

  I have no kiddo advice, but I'm sure lots of the mommies here will. You will figure it out, you're a great mom.

• Angie replied 12 years ago

  Look at you rocking those midis :)

  LOOOOOOOOOVE! Elegantly edgy.

  Ahem. Weren't you a nay vote to midis when they first resurfaced, Nicole? :)

• replied 12 years ago

  This is the most beautiful, demure, sexy, feminine, appropriate, tough, cool outfit! I don't know how you do it! I love every detail. I can't believe you thrifted the skirt! The blouse does look very Victorian to me, velvet and lace? To die for. I love the artistic way you put your outfits together. And you are the ca-yootest model! I can't believe you're a mommy, too. I'm sure you'll get a great outfit together for meeting with your son's teacher.

  You and your DH will figure out a way to help your son appropriately express his anger and deal with disapointment. It sounds like you're on the right track. My son had different issues, which I will share in the effort to distract you from your troubles.

  I thought DS would NEVER get pottytrained. I couldn't believe that he was still in diapers when his sister was born (almost 3 years apart) and I was frantic. My BF (3 kids, all whom *self potty-trained* at around 18 mos) kept telling me he'd be fine, and it wasn't like he'd be going off to kindergarten with Pull-ups on. Well guess what? I had a kid who could hold it all through pre-school and wouldn't go poo until we put a diaper on him! If we didn't, he'd wait till we were distracted and take a dump in his pants while hiding behind a chair. I think he did the same thing all though kindergarten (not sure, I've tried to block the memories) and he was wetting the bed up til age 9. He is now 18 and really turned out to be a great kid. But like you, we had our challenges. :)

• christieanne replied 12 years ago

  Love the bold and longer length skirt!

  One more thing to think about for your little guy - does he have non-preschool play time with other kids of same age where he can practice getting along behaviors outside of school? He seems like he has pretty reasonable expectations (don't knock down my bridge) but could use support (which teacher may not be able to give on the spot) with problem solving.
  Just a thought - these things do tend to work out so don't stress over it :)

• Jonesy replied 12 years ago

  Your skirt is fab! Re. your son: I have a lot of thoughts about this. I teach child development and used to work as a social worker at a preschool, consulting with and helping teachers when they reported a problem with a particular child, conducting play therapy, etc. From what you have described (and this is just my reaction to that, not knowing anything else), to me it sounds like the teacher is the one with the problem.

  Preschool-aged kids are quite volatile and can get riled up, get into disagreements, etc. many times over the course of the day. This is pretty normal, IMHO. Your son may be particularly sensitive, or get sort of loud when's he's upset (and of course I think it's great to try to help him build his skills, learn how to manage his frustration, etc.), but that's not that unusual for kids this age. It doesn't sound like he is being aggressive toward other kids or anything like that (and even that is pretty normal at this age). It's the teacher's job to be able to manage the child's behavior, role-model how to deal with anger/frustration, etc. This is a key part of what a child learns in preschool and a key part of the teacher's job! To send him to the principal's office makes no sense in the situations you describe: he feels like he is being punished and he doesn't get the opportunity to learn anything, and the teacher isn't doing her job.

  Just my two cents, of course!

• catgirl replied 12 years ago

  Outfit is PERFECTION!

  My son went through a phase where he was overreacting to things. Part of it is that he's very insightful and any perceived injustice, even mild teasing, set him off. It's just part of the learning curve with social skills. Now he's completely over it and will probably be a playground mediator next year.

  His school uses Kelso's Choices which are super-helpful to kids in learning how to choose from different possible reactions in resolving conflicts independently. You may already know about it, but if not here's a link:

  http://kelsoschoice.com/

  And a school link that lists them:

  http://roosevelt.osd.wednet.ed.....ills/kelso

  It works at home too!

• Mochi replied 12 years ago

  Oh, this outfit is stunning. Absolutely stunning, nicole. Your style is truly unique and sophisticated yet totally cool.

  Wish I had good advice re kids. They go through so many developmental stages so quickly. You are on top of it, and that's the main thing. It might take time, but you'll figure it out.

• Scarlet replied 12 years ago

  Gorgeous combo! Really striking and visually rich. I am glad you could get some good parenting advice. I have none.

• jenanded replied 12 years ago

  The outfit is wonderful! Hugs for the mummy as well :-)

• Angie replied 12 years ago

  I neglected to mention in my first comment that I wish you the best with your little guy. It's so hard being a parent :(

  Also, why on earth are you selling this amazing skirt? Do I need to spank your bottom.

• annagybe replied 12 years ago

  Late but love the outfit!

• Jaime replied 12 years ago

  Love your outfit! Dealing with pre-school children is really challenging. It is so frustrating for them not to be able to fully express themselves and understand what they are going through. It sounds like you are doing all sorts of good things for your son, and a lot of the advice given above sounds excellent. It is hard to remember as a parent that we cannot control everything and solve everything for our kids, but sometimes it helps to be reminded.

• Debbie replied 12 years ago

  I absolutely love this outfit! Why would you sell that skirt?

  My grandson had a rough time In pre-school. Keep volunteering and keep in close contact with the teacher. It did get better for us. Big hugs to you.

• fashionista replied 12 years ago

  Are you selling this outfit?? No way!!! just keep it lady, its so lovely... and looking great on you.

• Lisa replied 12 years ago

  Sorry no parent advice here, but I adore this skirt on you. Especially how you styled it. It's a shame you are going to let it go. I'd love to see this in a remix, perhaps with a denim shirt?

• Vicki replied 12 years ago

  Nicole, your blouse and skirt combination are amazing and I don't know why you're selling the skirt, because these two work so well together, especially with your belt and shoes as accessories. Plus, I can see the skirt with any number of shirts, blouse and tops, in different colors, too.

  I don't have children, but you've received some wonderful advice here. As a child who tended to be a shy introvert, it may be that your son needs a way to express himself and feel comfortable doing so. Hopefully, classmates aren't picking on him or bullying him. His teach may need to work with him, through you, so that he finds a way to communicate and know that he's being heard, in an acceptable way for everyone. He's got a beautiful Mom!

• Fruitful replied 12 years ago

  Nicole, you are stunning. That is all :)

• nicoleb replied 12 years ago

  Sorry i'm replying rather late to everyone! But i just wanted to let you know i truly do appreciate everyone thoughts and advice and outfit comments. :)

  First off, I'm selling the skirt because i bought it to sell. If i keep, keeping a majority of what i'm going out and finding to sell i don't think my husband will be too happy with me lol! It was enough for me that i got to wear it once before it goes on to look beautiful on someone else. There are tons of other awesome fashion finds out there!

  Thanks for all your thoughts on my son too! We had a good day and a bad day at school this week (he goes 2 days a week for a few hours at preschool). But we're continuing to work with him and i hope with time things will get better full time.