Lessons
Today was the 2nd day of school for Katie. I worked, Kyle went and hung out Bethany and Carrie and Katie went to school. When Katie was dropped off after school I asked her, do you have any homework? "No, we don't have any until next week." Oh, ok. She dropped her backpack on the floor and happily skipped off to watch tv. Lesson #1 for Mom - check the backpack. While I don't believe it should be my responsibility to check the backpack, I believe for the next few weeks I probably should since she is still getting used to the idea of homework.
Katie and Kyle are watching tv. The volume is deafening so I asked her to turn it down. She didn't. I took the remote. She starts screaming at me as I am turning the volume down to a more acceptable level. I look at her still screaming at me and turn the tv off. More screaming. I instruct her (very calmly I might add) to head to her room. More screaming. Really? Lesson #2 for Katie - when Mom says something, do it and don't throw a fit. Lesson #3 for Katie - next time you throw a fit, you are going to your room and losing your Legos. And the following time, you lose your dolls. And then it's your horses. And on and on until this stops. I am so tired of it.
It's bedtime, lights are out, prayers are said. "Mom, I forgot to do my puzzle!" "What puzzle?" "I have a paper I am supposed to finish at home." "You mean, HOMEWORK?" "Well, she said that we are supposed to take it home and finish it." "Are you supposed to take it back to school?" "Yes." "I'm sorry Katie, but it's bedtime. If you have time in the morning to finish it, then you can, but you are not getting out of bed to work on it because you told me that you didn't have any homework." "But Mom!, there are so many pieces!" "Well, then I hope you wake up early to finish it." Lesson #4 for Mom - being a responsible parent and allowing your kids to make mistakes and pay the price for it is a lot harder that letting them stay up to finish their homework when they lie to you or even just forget about it. And yes, there are a LOT of pieces to whatever she is supposed to be doing to that piece of paper - I didn't even understand what it was. Hopefully she knows and can finish it up in the morning, but if she doesn't then it's Lesson #5 learned for Katie - do your homework!!!
4 comments:
Those are good lessons! Sophie had meltdown after meltdown today after school, hsterically sobbing at one point. I know she is tired and going to school all day every day is so hard for her, but throwing a fit because I put her in timeout for throwing a toy, then screaming at me for minutes on end is NOT unacceptable. At bedtime, she collapsed and was asleep in about one minute.
What a doozy of a day! That Katie!! You were right in all the things you did! Hang in there and stand firm!! Miss you!
She walked into my room at 6:15 this morning on her own ready to finish her homework. I was shocked since usually I am dragging her out of bed in the morning. I'm not so sure she did it right, but that's not my problem, now is it?
I've already had that discussion this week, but not with my 1st grader, with my 6th grader. He sent me an email from school that said he forgot to do his homework. When I asked him about it that afternoon, he said that he thought he would be given some slack since it's only the first week. My response, "Welcome to middle school." Reagan's not liking the homework either.
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