PLANNING

The bell has rung and I'm in the corner catching my breath. Not that I've gone 18 rounds with the boys, but I've been screaming like a banshee - not a proud moment - and now they are all off safely to school I can calm down and rehash. Over the weekend I learned that adolescent boys actually have different peripheral vision (may not be true, I just took their word) and now I am wondering if they also have a different vision of how things may happen.

Yesterday I had Xandy home from school for two reasons. The first were these awful lumps on his ears which I thought may have been hand foot and mouth which is apparently going around. The other reason, as he really wasn't that sick, was because he hadn't done his project which was due. Our previous week was nothing but manic and we really were not home, so I didn't feel I could blame him. Little did I know he had had it for significantly longer than I was told. So he stayed home and did it all day yesterday. We did also go to the doctor and she diagnosed the ear thing as chilblains.

With assignment all finished, and a non contagious disorder (apparently a stupidity induced, but we'll get to that) he was certainly off to school today. Unsurprisingly he wouldn't wake up. I suspect this was due to the hidden iPad that I confiscated at 11pm! Already I was not giving any sympathy. What totally set me off was he couldn't find his school jumper, and really didn't look very hard. You know that annoying look where they move their head from side to side and glance around a room and if the said item doesn't jump and hit them in the face, they can't find it? That look? Yeah, well I wasn't in the mood for it and sent him to school without a jumper. Seems his emergency jumper is also in hiding. Along with most of the other items in his room - ugh.

Back to the chilblains - he reckons he got these last time he went to school without his jumper (tshirt and shorts, it is winter here) and got really cold. I am angry for two reasons. One - can't he see that he got sick because he lost his jumper and two,  he only has to have a handful of things and can't even seem to manage that! Geez - the kid is only 10, what hope have I got when he enters puberty???

So, rather than fix it and take back all the responsibility myself and do everything for them, I am pushing back. Now if homework isn't done - TOO BAD i say. Your PROBLEM. Forgot your swimmers - miss SWIMMING. Lost a notice - YOU MISS OUT. All sounds a bit harsh I know, but I am trying to help them learn. I am also setting up some prompts on our notice boards to try to trigger them to forward think. What do I need tomorrow. Pack the bag the night before. What homework do I have this week. What is my weekly schedule. Lets see how we go......