Over the past month or so Julia hasn't wanted to go to school. Usually, it involves tears. We thought for awhile that it was just a phase, then started thinking maybe there was someone at school that she didn't want to see, only to eventually find out it had something to do with her not getting a snack.
Like most kids, we didn't get the real story at first. Julia seemed to be suggesting that her teacher didn't give her a snack one day as a punishment for looking into another classroom. Since Julia communicates verbally very well and remembers everything, it was really only a matter of sitting her down and talking her through what really happened.
The more questions we asked, the more the story came out. Apparently, when it's snack time, all of the kids leave the classroom and grab their snack from a cart in the hallway. We think Julia probably got distracted and/or stayed away from the mass chaos and peeked around the corner into another classroom. After everyone had been handed their snack, the teacher probably told everyone to go back to their seats to eat. Julia probably got back to her table and realized that everyone else had been given a snack except for her and was crushed that she either had forgotten or perhaps even not been given a snack. She was the odd one out. In addition, she had to muster up the courage to ask the teacher for a snack, something she doesn't like to do (speak up in class). Of course the teacher gave her a snack, but it was still a traumatic experience.
I'm guessing that she doesn't want to go to school because she's afraid something like that might happen again. She's also doing the same thing with church, trying to avoid going to Sunday School class, probably for the same reasons. The funny thing is that every time we pick her up after school or church she's in a great mood. She's happy, won't stop talking, and tells us all about her day.