After two weeks + one day of recovery time, Thing 1 returned to preschool yesterday. He still has bandage strips covering the scar, so we haven’t seen what it looks like since the stitches were taken out.
He really is a great patient. He follows all the rules and never complains. He enjoyed the extra attention, though I’m sure he’d rather be back to jumping and climbing and playing like a four and a half year old.
At school, we gave instructions to have him be careful with his shoulder. There is still a risk of re-opening the wound, which the doctor keeps telling us is a bad thing to happen. No kidding. But for the most part, he can do all his normal activities.
The biggest challenge with returning to school is preventing two dozen 4 and 5 year olds from touching his shoulder. So, the teachers came up with a plan. They taped a sign to his shoulder saying “Please Don’t Touch”. It reminds me of a “kick me” sign, but at his age, he doesn’t seem to mind wearing it.
Do they think a roomful of preschoolers is going to be deterred by a written message?
The quickest way to get my preschooler to touch *anything* would be to slap a bright red sticker onto it.
I’d suggest removing the sticker, and replacing it with broccoli, silent evenings at home, or an aged, honking Basset Hound – my kids stay well away from all three of those things.
Love the sign on his shoulder, though I doubt preschoolers will obey it’s message.