Sunday, May 27, 2012

Procrastination.

If there was a way to sing an ode to this word, I would. It is a great plague of doom around my house. My spouse is the leader of The Procrastinators. There are 2 wee minion followers that obligingly follow his postponement teachings to a T. Oddly, C complains they "never listen to what he says", but they sure mimic his less desirable procrastination techniques. My personal favorite is the: I'll do it here in a little bit. A little bit NEVER COMES.(Or comes with a giant fit, sobbing, screaming, crying, kicking, biting, etc.) So.... We we are in Boot Camp of Time Management. I must admit that this first week has been an epic failure, but the misery that poor time management has brought may have made my point for me. No video games, no movies, no actual really *fun* stuff until the mandatory items (IE school and chores) were completed. I have each a detailed list on Monday morning of what had to be completed before Sunday at bedtime.

Neither started until Friday morning. They had to cram their entire weeks worth of school into 3 days (and I planned enough for each for 5 reasonable days), their laundry, errands, and other mandatory items into Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (today).  I think they wanted to see if I was *actually* going to make them do it. Hahhaahaha Yep. Sure did. Gonna do it next week too (and the week after that, and that.. and that..). I am happy and very proud of them that they managed to get it ALL DONE by noonish. I DID add in an extra bribe if they managed to get it all done before late today. Especially since T2 had a new concept with his math that he found very hard at first. But, once they gave up procrastination and set a timer (Ok, well T1 did anyhow) she got it done remarkably quickly. If an ice cream bribe teaches them the correct way to NOT procrastinate, ice cream it is. I think they actually got a lot more done with their school with this list method than they had been previously as well. I know there are some with the "What? School, in the summer?" But, realistically, it does work better for us. There is no refresher time with restarting, no re-gearing time, no resettling into schedules and routines. I want them to enjoy the summer, but I don't want to have to strangle them either. Plus, if we decide to go somewhere or someone gets sick, we can just push it back a few days without a concern. And there are several times in the summer the weather just is too hot to do anything. But, in the spring this year, there have been several days the weather was gorgeous and we just felt like playing - so it all works out eventually. Well, mostly. They end up ahead on the mandatory 180 days per year, but too many is better than not enough.







Here, lately, 1 & 2 have been into dress up a lot. This is one of my recent favorites.



Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Occupational Therapy and Ear Surgery

T1 is officially being phased off of occupational therapy! She has 2 sessions left - assuming all goes well. We've been going to see Mrs. Chan for over 2 years. Every Monday at 11 for over 2 years and we won't be there any more. We will continue to do listening therapy, brushing, her visual schedule and all of the other things we've learned there, we just won't be physically going to see the therapist every week. Our insurance company will be extremely happy. The next phase will be getting her set up with educational delay tested and in get that set up. We've been waiting for our insurance to change and that should happen within a month or so.

Tomorrow is another surgery for T2. This time he is getting a hole in his ear patched. I've convinced him that all they are going to do is sedate him and look at it. But. Well. They aren't. Ahh well.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Love For Big Kids

There are a lot of people having babies around here. Ok, women having babies, but sometimes I need to remember why having bigger kids are SO much better than babies. There really are a quite a few reasons they a super cool. Babies are cute, cuddly, have that just hatched smell, stay where you put them, don't sass talk, and are basically blank slates to be taught. But, the slightly older kid has some true advantages.

1. They can ASK for what they want instead of screaming like a banshee (most of the time anyhow).
2. They can pour their own drinks and *mostly* not spill.
3. They can drink from real cups, eat from real plates, and use real utensils.
4. Nap time is gone and you don't have to rush home at 1 to get them in bed just to be thwarted when they dose off in the car and will never fall back asleep once you get home. (No nap is also a con, BTW.)
5. They come up with some of the most bizarre stories which is more amusing that most shows on T.V. now.
6. They aren't a drowning risk in the bathtub any more. (Unless they get rowdy and need to be clubbed like baby goats.)
7. Logic starts to work as a reason why things must or must not be done. 
8. Each kid is developing their own personality and it is fun to figure out each new person as they grown.
9. Free Slave Labor!
10. They can swallow pills! You no longer have to try to get Motrin in them like they are a feral cat.
11. No more formula. That stuff is expensive and stinks!
12. They remember things from day to day, week to week, holiday to holiday. While for *cough* some of us this is a detriment, it's kinda fun to have traditions and habits with them.
13. They can amuse themselves outside in the fenced in yard by themselves. Not having to sit outside when it's 103 in the summer or -3 in the winter when they want to go out to play is HUGE.
14. They can dress, undress, and go to the bathroom by themselves (mostly).
15. They can buckle their own seat belts.


There's more. I'll make more of a list when I can think of them all!