Today was a busy day. One of those busy "Mom" kind of days where I am grateful that I am able to stay home with the kids. Really it was a rather normal day for me and may be your type of "normal" as well. Life with 4 kids and a traveling husband keeps me moving.
Here is a peak: Today I got the 4 boys up and ready for school, delivered them all to their destinations on time, took a picture of an adorable 2nd grader to finish up a Teacher Appreciation gift (more on that later), visited Wal-Mart for fabric, baked 3 dozen cupcakes, 3 dozen cookies, volunteered as a lunch server for a 7th grade fundraiser, visited the grocery store for party supplies, distributed cupcakes to 1st grade and then to 2nd grade, collected all the boys for the return trip, made 2 super hero capes, chatted with a friend, fed the boys dinner, went to church and threw a party for my Bible study kiddos.
Did I mention in there that LoveBug decided today would be a good day to consider everything his teacher said to be a suggestion; suggestions that he did not take? Oh, the joys of ODD combined with "birthday week". Most days are good, but others are not so good. Luckily for me I had the perfect natural consequence built into the day.
After coming home and writing an apology letter to his teacher and then rewriting it until it followed all the grammatical rules every exceptional 2nd grader should follow my LoveBug had the opportunity to spend some time alone with a book. This is not a punishment. He loves to read. It was to center him, and to move the anger over all the letter redrafting to the side because the next consequence was going to be a bit more difficult.
He missed the party at church. Mind you, he did not miss church, just the party. He could see the party, hear the party, even smell the party (the baking paid off), but he could touch and taste nothing from the party. Consequence nailed. Just enough, not too much.
How do I know it was just enough? He did everything I asked without hesitation or question. He was just happy to be back within his boundaries. On the way home he got the hiccups and I tried to frighten them out of him with a loud sound. His response? "Mom, you nearly scared the daylight savings out of me". Yep. He is still my funny little kid. Hopefully with a path correction for the week ahead. Birthday weeks are always tough. Why is that?
Here is a peak: Today I got the 4 boys up and ready for school, delivered them all to their destinations on time, took a picture of an adorable 2nd grader to finish up a Teacher Appreciation gift (more on that later), visited Wal-Mart for fabric, baked 3 dozen cupcakes, 3 dozen cookies, volunteered as a lunch server for a 7th grade fundraiser, visited the grocery store for party supplies, distributed cupcakes to 1st grade and then to 2nd grade, collected all the boys for the return trip, made 2 super hero capes, chatted with a friend, fed the boys dinner, went to church and threw a party for my Bible study kiddos.
Did I mention in there that LoveBug decided today would be a good day to consider everything his teacher said to be a suggestion; suggestions that he did not take? Oh, the joys of ODD combined with "birthday week". Most days are good, but others are not so good. Luckily for me I had the perfect natural consequence built into the day.
After coming home and writing an apology letter to his teacher and then rewriting it until it followed all the grammatical rules every exceptional 2nd grader should follow my LoveBug had the opportunity to spend some time alone with a book. This is not a punishment. He loves to read. It was to center him, and to move the anger over all the letter redrafting to the side because the next consequence was going to be a bit more difficult.
He missed the party at church. Mind you, he did not miss church, just the party. He could see the party, hear the party, even smell the party (the baking paid off), but he could touch and taste nothing from the party. Consequence nailed. Just enough, not too much.
How do I know it was just enough? He did everything I asked without hesitation or question. He was just happy to be back within his boundaries. On the way home he got the hiccups and I tried to frighten them out of him with a loud sound. His response? "Mom, you nearly scared the daylight savings out of me". Yep. He is still my funny little kid. Hopefully with a path correction for the week ahead. Birthday weeks are always tough. Why is that?
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