A kinder, gentler Hayden

Over the past several months (probably 18, if we're honest) Hayden's been relying on his experiences with James P. Sullivan, Mike Wazowski and the rest of the gang from Monsters, Inc. in order to help express himself at times.  If he got angry at something, he would typically growl and yell and make 'angry hands' which looked like claws.

Since Hayden's been at his new school, he's being strongly encouraged (read: forced) to deal with his anger more appropriately.  He has to use words, he's not allowed to run away from the situation and he has to apologize when he's wrong.

Today while his class was gathering in the school's foyer before heading upstairs, a little girl said 'Hayden has a red hat!'  That little girl took that red hat.  Hayden's hat.  A month ago, that girl might have possibly gotten a shove, a scream, a shove and a scream, or at the very least 'angry hands'.

It's really great to see him making progress in so many areas: behavior, speech, socializing.  It's a shame we couldn't have made this change sooner, but we're really excited about how quickly (and how positively) Hayden's developing now.