a quickie
I mean a quick joural entry - you dirty minded scoundrel! Haha...made you laugh :) Ahhh....a ray of sunshine!
Actually, I made a promise that I would make an entry by the end of the weekend. I've had some sort of bug and want to sleep, but did write a letter to my hubby who is in England that pretty much tells what's been going on :) I'll let the majority of it do double duty by copying and pasting :) I promise I'll post a more interesting entry later this week :)
Thanks, my dear friend for the nudge. Feel free to nudge anytime! :D
We’ve all had a bug. Benj must have indeed been sick earlier this week. I’ve had it the last couple of days. Have had no appetite since you left. The last couple of days I’ve been very tired. Had a scratchy throat….never got bad, but haven’t felt well at all. Zach had a belly ache and was tired for a couple days.
Despite all that, for the most part the kids and I had a pretty good weekend and got a lot accomplished. I’m paying the boys to clean out the gutters on the house before winter arrives. They’ve just about completed the back. We changed the furnace filters (lol…ummm…they’re only good for 3 months….we’re supposed to change them again in January). We cleaned the intake vent in the hallway ceiling that was filthy. We cleaned house (including our bathroom - finally the litterbox is gone!) and only have a little left to finish. I’d love to get Sam’s room done next weekend, but doubt I’ll get that far.
Benjamin’s grades came in….three C’s, two B’s and an A. Much better start than last year. I told him I was pleased with progress, but given the C’s are in Math, History and English, I knew he could at least be pulling B’s in those classes and hoped he’d try harder. He and I had to have yet another chat, though it was good. Even though I felt like absolute crap on Friday, I stayed up late to think and reflect after a very rough Thursday and semi-tough Friday. Saturday morning I talked to him. I really believe that he’s trying to exhibit some control by showing us he can do things we say no to. I also know it’s how I used to “show my parents” and so think we’ll have to go careful and try some psychological warfare…lol instead of just getting into a power struggle with him. It really was a good talk that we had. I’ve told him I’ll keep my mouth shut about school other than to ask him how he’s doing and it will be his responsibility to let us know if he needs help and that we’re both willing to help if we know what he needs. I told him that bad grades would be dealt with with strict consequences…period. I again told him that when he doesn’t listen, it creates a much bigger problem as there are two other sets of eyes/ears watching/listening to see how things went down. I told him I understand he wants some control in his life, but that he also had to accept that there were rules in this house that had to remain and that it was our job, as the adults, to set limits. I reminded him that we don’t want him to be perfect, but we just asked that he give us (and thus this house) the respect we deserve, follow the simple rules of doing chores, being honest, not hitting his middle brother and taking care of homework. I know it won’t be the last time we have the conversation, but it did help a lot to have it. He was much more cooperative and if I showed him when he started to veer off track that he was, he seemed to attempt to pull himself back in. I also think we need to give him more advanced “jobs” to do, of course with direction and guidance. I know it makes him feel more grown up and he’s then more likely to help in other ways. Like I asked him to show me how he did the berry pancakes last weekend and he LOVED it! It really helps to make things more peaceful and also gives him some confidence, makes him feel valued and important and encourages him to help out. He in turn seems to also be more willing to look at his behavior when I point out the “problem” areas.
Zach was quite helpful this weekend as well. He tried to help with chores a lot and helped me with Sam when he wasn’t doing chores. When things began to head south on us today, I let him and his brother see that this is how our weekends can deteriorate rapidly and to their credit, they both came ‘round and pulled themselves back into line. Zach decided to spend some of his money on a video game this weekend, but I have to say he’s really sticking to saving half of everything he gets. He’s done an awesome job about it. He lost the spelling bee in the fifth round and was very disappointed. Oops, think I already told you that in the letter that accompanies this one.
Sam has been taking later naps. He’s silly and funny and adorable, as you know. He really is such a crack up. We have to be careful as he’s decided that it might be fun to ride one of the dogs. Miso just lays there, but Bailey decided she’d have none of that and bucked him off (and he now has a bruise on his rib, about the size of a dime). Today he took no nap and it really was tough to get him to go to sleep. This morning, he didn’t have “babo” right away, instead opting for the French toast I had cooked. AHHHH….it’s a start! He also sat on the potty (no success, of course) and told me he’d pooped his pants. So we’re making progress there as well! We need to get a potty for Mom’s house. He’s afraid of the big toilet still. We read the potty book he got for his birthday several times this weekend and he thinks the button that makes the flushing sound is great fun! I hope he’s not in a bad mood tomorrow!
Benj has to go tomorrow to get his tooth fixed. There’s another $500…ugh!
And that is pretty much my week in a nutshell! Only copied parts of the letter...hey, I'm not divulging all my secrets! ;)
Another entry coming soon :) g'night!
Actually, I made a promise that I would make an entry by the end of the weekend. I've had some sort of bug and want to sleep, but did write a letter to my hubby who is in England that pretty much tells what's been going on :) I'll let the majority of it do double duty by copying and pasting :) I promise I'll post a more interesting entry later this week :)
Thanks, my dear friend for the nudge. Feel free to nudge anytime! :D
We’ve all had a bug. Benj must have indeed been sick earlier this week. I’ve had it the last couple of days. Have had no appetite since you left. The last couple of days I’ve been very tired. Had a scratchy throat….never got bad, but haven’t felt well at all. Zach had a belly ache and was tired for a couple days.
Despite all that, for the most part the kids and I had a pretty good weekend and got a lot accomplished. I’m paying the boys to clean out the gutters on the house before winter arrives. They’ve just about completed the back. We changed the furnace filters (lol…ummm…they’re only good for 3 months….we’re supposed to change them again in January). We cleaned the intake vent in the hallway ceiling that was filthy. We cleaned house (including our bathroom - finally the litterbox is gone!) and only have a little left to finish. I’d love to get Sam’s room done next weekend, but doubt I’ll get that far.
Benjamin’s grades came in….three C’s, two B’s and an A. Much better start than last year. I told him I was pleased with progress, but given the C’s are in Math, History and English, I knew he could at least be pulling B’s in those classes and hoped he’d try harder. He and I had to have yet another chat, though it was good. Even though I felt like absolute crap on Friday, I stayed up late to think and reflect after a very rough Thursday and semi-tough Friday. Saturday morning I talked to him. I really believe that he’s trying to exhibit some control by showing us he can do things we say no to. I also know it’s how I used to “show my parents” and so think we’ll have to go careful and try some psychological warfare…lol instead of just getting into a power struggle with him. It really was a good talk that we had. I’ve told him I’ll keep my mouth shut about school other than to ask him how he’s doing and it will be his responsibility to let us know if he needs help and that we’re both willing to help if we know what he needs. I told him that bad grades would be dealt with with strict consequences…period. I again told him that when he doesn’t listen, it creates a much bigger problem as there are two other sets of eyes/ears watching/listening to see how things went down. I told him I understand he wants some control in his life, but that he also had to accept that there were rules in this house that had to remain and that it was our job, as the adults, to set limits. I reminded him that we don’t want him to be perfect, but we just asked that he give us (and thus this house) the respect we deserve, follow the simple rules of doing chores, being honest, not hitting his middle brother and taking care of homework. I know it won’t be the last time we have the conversation, but it did help a lot to have it. He was much more cooperative and if I showed him when he started to veer off track that he was, he seemed to attempt to pull himself back in. I also think we need to give him more advanced “jobs” to do, of course with direction and guidance. I know it makes him feel more grown up and he’s then more likely to help in other ways. Like I asked him to show me how he did the berry pancakes last weekend and he LOVED it! It really helps to make things more peaceful and also gives him some confidence, makes him feel valued and important and encourages him to help out. He in turn seems to also be more willing to look at his behavior when I point out the “problem” areas.
Zach was quite helpful this weekend as well. He tried to help with chores a lot and helped me with Sam when he wasn’t doing chores. When things began to head south on us today, I let him and his brother see that this is how our weekends can deteriorate rapidly and to their credit, they both came ‘round and pulled themselves back into line. Zach decided to spend some of his money on a video game this weekend, but I have to say he’s really sticking to saving half of everything he gets. He’s done an awesome job about it. He lost the spelling bee in the fifth round and was very disappointed. Oops, think I already told you that in the letter that accompanies this one.
Sam has been taking later naps. He’s silly and funny and adorable, as you know. He really is such a crack up. We have to be careful as he’s decided that it might be fun to ride one of the dogs. Miso just lays there, but Bailey decided she’d have none of that and bucked him off (and he now has a bruise on his rib, about the size of a dime). Today he took no nap and it really was tough to get him to go to sleep. This morning, he didn’t have “babo” right away, instead opting for the French toast I had cooked. AHHHH….it’s a start! He also sat on the potty (no success, of course) and told me he’d pooped his pants. So we’re making progress there as well! We need to get a potty for Mom’s house. He’s afraid of the big toilet still. We read the potty book he got for his birthday several times this weekend and he thinks the button that makes the flushing sound is great fun! I hope he’s not in a bad mood tomorrow!
Benj has to go tomorrow to get his tooth fixed. There’s another $500…ugh!
And that is pretty much my week in a nutshell! Only copied parts of the letter...hey, I'm not divulging all my secrets! ;)
Another entry coming soon :) g'night!