First up, Ben.... (well, technically, me... but I like to keep it low-key and it's not up to me to plan what to do anyway) ;)
So this year, we found this thing called Party Game Truck. I actually found this last year, but we did the rock climbing thing, and decided to save this idea. So they come park this 20-foot trailer in the driveway and inside are 16 big-screen tvs with any games you want and a "game coach" who I guess manages the chaos. Sounds easy and fun and Ben was excited about it. Ten seemed like a good age for something like this too.
They let you have 16 kids in the truck (larger groups can rotate, but we didn't want to have to do that). I didn't mention this to Ben and just told him to make a list of who he would want to invite. Low and behold,, his list, including himself and and Simon was exactly 16 kids. Hrm. About eight more than I actually wanted to have... but the list was all kids I know -- ALL super nice kids who have all consistently been friends with Ben since he switched schools. I couldn't say no to any of them.... SOOOOo we invited them all. I don't want any of them to not come because like I said, I do like each and every one of them. But I would definitely not be sad if a handful of them have baseball practice or lacrosse or a family trip planned or something and can't make it. ;) Ten would be a nice number to ultimately end up with.
The plan is that they arrive, play in the truck for two hours and then, in what I am dubbing the hour of insanity, get released for pizza, cake and unstructured activities. Read: This is when I somehow have to keep 16 boys from destroying our house until their parents come get them.
I hope and pray it is warmish and sunny that day and I can just keep them outside. Tom can play wiffleball and basketball with them and they can go all the crazy they want. If I have to have them in my house, I don't know WHAT I'll do except herd them down to the basement and hope for the best.
So far two RSVPs and they are both yes.... the last two times we've done parties for Ben he hasn't had a single no.... (I suspect it's because his birthday falls during kind of a lull between sports and holidays.....) including the year we invited the entire class to Ultimate PLayzone. All 25 kids came. GAH!
Wish me luck........
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Summer Can't Come Soon Enough...
Ben is working hard on his dive starts and flipturns! He has the diving down, hates the flip turns. He has also fine-tuned his breast stroke, freestyle and backstroke... now needs to put some time into his butterfly. Love watching him swim! Can't wait for swim team.... and summer.... and warmth.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Strong-Willed Child Issues....
So Jonathan... he is a TOUGH nut. There are things he does that Ben and Simon would never even have considered -- hitting us, for instance, when he's angry. I think B&S each tried that maybe once. Never again. Jonathan, on the other hand, seems to learn things the ultra-hard way.
He thinks nothing of saying no to something like getting dressed and throwing a fit about it, which, okay he's three. But the other two? Again, they may have tried that once or twice... honestly? Ben is such a rule follower, he has practically raised himself. Simon has gone through some tough phases here and there but is still eager to please and once he knows the rules, he generally follows them, with some impulsive rule breakage only here and there.
Jonathan is just outright defiant even though we have always disciplined him in the same way we have the other two. Problem is that what worked for them clearly was not working for him.
I bought a book about strong willed children and how to discipline and, as I feared, it basically told me what I had been beginning to think.... that we had gotten lucky the first two times around with kids who are compliant and eager to please. Jonathan is neither.
I started implementing tactics immediately, which were almost too simple to be believed. 100% consistency, NO negotiating EVER, no "when you're ready", no bargaining about "if you do this, then you can do that", NO fighting or arguing whatsoever (in this respect, it's actually very easy), it's one warning then timeout for things like "Clean up the mess you made"... immediate timeout for the biggest infractions, like hitting and kicking.
I have to tell you, it's a LOT of work. The other two kids have made me lazy. Jonathan has spent more time in timeout in the last three weeks than the other two have in their entire lives thusfar.
But we are seeing results. He still tests a LOT, but things are slowly changing. For instance, this morning, I told him it was time to get dressed. He said no and kicked his pants off a bunch of times. Before, I would have left him in his room and told him he wasn't doing anything else until he was ready to get dressed. It would have dragged on for a half hour. OR, I would have tried to distract him with something like"Let's just get dressed and then we can go play with Simon!!!"
Now? I warned him if he didn't calm down and get dressed by the count of three, he was going in time out. He didn't, so time out it was.... three minutes. When I came back, he was completely compliant about getting dressed.
Again, we've always been consistent with the older ones, but they rarely have tested us, so there was always room for error or the occasional, "Okay, just this once." Jonathan leaves NO ROOM FOR ERROR.
Now that we know this, I feel like we are cracking the code... we will be victorious against the three-year-old! ;)
He thinks nothing of saying no to something like getting dressed and throwing a fit about it, which, okay he's three. But the other two? Again, they may have tried that once or twice... honestly? Ben is such a rule follower, he has practically raised himself. Simon has gone through some tough phases here and there but is still eager to please and once he knows the rules, he generally follows them, with some impulsive rule breakage only here and there.
Jonathan is just outright defiant even though we have always disciplined him in the same way we have the other two. Problem is that what worked for them clearly was not working for him.
I bought a book about strong willed children and how to discipline and, as I feared, it basically told me what I had been beginning to think.... that we had gotten lucky the first two times around with kids who are compliant and eager to please. Jonathan is neither.
I started implementing tactics immediately, which were almost too simple to be believed. 100% consistency, NO negotiating EVER, no "when you're ready", no bargaining about "if you do this, then you can do that", NO fighting or arguing whatsoever (in this respect, it's actually very easy), it's one warning then timeout for things like "Clean up the mess you made"... immediate timeout for the biggest infractions, like hitting and kicking.
I have to tell you, it's a LOT of work. The other two kids have made me lazy. Jonathan has spent more time in timeout in the last three weeks than the other two have in their entire lives thusfar.
But we are seeing results. He still tests a LOT, but things are slowly changing. For instance, this morning, I told him it was time to get dressed. He said no and kicked his pants off a bunch of times. Before, I would have left him in his room and told him he wasn't doing anything else until he was ready to get dressed. It would have dragged on for a half hour. OR, I would have tried to distract him with something like"Let's just get dressed and then we can go play with Simon!!!"
Now? I warned him if he didn't calm down and get dressed by the count of three, he was going in time out. He didn't, so time out it was.... three minutes. When I came back, he was completely compliant about getting dressed.
Again, we've always been consistent with the older ones, but they rarely have tested us, so there was always room for error or the occasional, "Okay, just this once." Jonathan leaves NO ROOM FOR ERROR.
Now that we know this, I feel like we are cracking the code... we will be victorious against the three-year-old! ;)
Friday, February 21, 2014
PJ Day!
Today was PJ Day at school, a fundraiser to benefit one of the teachers at school and her family who just lost their house in a fire. :( Kids were psyched! Much thought went into which PJs would be worn.... discovered Ben has grown a few inches in the last week or so. All his jammies are suddenly flood pants.
Jonathan had Dads Day at preschool. I have a couple pictures of that to post later. He was SO happy to have daddy at school with him! :)
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Playgroup....
Jonathan did not cry at ALL at Playgroup today. It's a miracle! Playgroup is growing on me. I was a little weirded out by it at first, but he really seems to like it and I like knowing they are actively working with him on his social challenges. Now if they would just bring in a couple more kids!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Update....
In the time since my last post --
In no particular order...
There was an ice storm. We didn't lose power, thankfully. Still, ice is awful.
Simon had a med check at the pediatrician, which is essentially an extra well-visit. So for record-keeping purposes -- he was 54 pounds and 48-1/2 inches. He is starting to grow taller, but not heavier... he looks like he has been stretched out!
Report cards came home.... Ben's was stellar, Simon's was kind of worthless and didn't communicate a whole lot (except for the comments, which were helpful, detailed and very good!), which is why I was glad I had a conference with his teacher, at her request. She reports he is doing SO well these days. She had samples of his work all laid out for me to see and it's really amazing how far he has come. He gets pulled for tests so he can take them with minimal distractions and she says he LOVES this. Two of his good friends go too and apparently they are the envy of their classmates. She says he is a great reader and has very high-level comprehension. (?!) She also said is amazed by the ways in which he goes about solving math problems. Now, if we could only get his desk organized and get him to stay consistent with getting right to work in class. LOL. VERY positive conference though! Proud of him!
This is one of his recent papers. The teacher was so excited about it, she brought me a copy after school one day while I was waiting to get the boys. I love that his teacher is as proud of him as I am. :)
I came down with what started out as a chest cold type thing and turned into what I'm fairly sure was the downsized, flu-shot version of the flu. Oddly, no one else got it. I was okay a couple days later, but am still ultra-tired and this was over a week ago!
Tom left town for a meeting in Florida. No surprise that he got snowed in there... or rather, snowed OUT of here.
It was just the kids and me Wednesday, Thursday and half of Friday. The day he came home, I went to bed at 6p.m.
We have had a lot of fun with this last snow... it was excellent sledding snow and the boys have been in and out. Only positive I have found so far.
I found this one in the side yard saying, "Mommy! The snow won't let me go!!!" It was over a foot and he had a hard time walking. Over the course of a few days, we carved out a path for him to walk to the sledding hill and back. LOL!
Ben had a meds check/well visit at the pediatrician two days after Simon. He is 49 inches tall and weighs 49-1/2 pounds. Like Simon, he also grew heightwise but not weightwise. Unlike Simon, he did not have pounds to spare, so he got a lecture about how he needs to eat lots of healthy snacks and indulge in some milkshakes here and there. Enviable problem to have....
The boys had a sleepover at Grandmom and Poppy's house last night. Frozen theme. They watched the movie (a screener my dad got from somewhere) and had all kinds of ice-themed treats! Well done, as usual Grandmom and Aunt Deb. The kids get so spoiled over there!!! Tom and I went out for sushi for a belated Valentine's date and then went back and got Jonathan, who is not quite ready to spend the night... or rather... grandmom is not quite ready for Jonathan to spend the night. HA! (and neither is mommy... )
Ben has been keeping busy with basketball. His team hasn't won a single game this year though they play well. There are some major issues with the draft system the rec council uses and the way the teams are formed... it's annoying and kind of a bummer for these kids who play SO hard. They seem to be having fun anyway but I do wish they could win a game.
Both older boys are still swimming on Saturdays. Simon hasn't made a whole lot of progress with this new teacher, though Ben seems to excel with her. We're going to make a change in March and put Simon with a different teacher and hopefully Jonathan too. He won't even get in the water with the new teacher unless I get in too. I am really looking forward to the end of May when the pool opens and June when swim team starts. It can't come soon enough!!! There's a chance we actually participate in two swim teams this year.... not sure if that will work, but we'll see. Hoping Simon will participate this year!
Jonathan... that kid is TOUGH lately. Lots of meltdowns and challenging behavior. We've taken a hard line with it and thus, he spends a lot of time in timeouts lately. I think maybe we're getting through to him though... we have won a couple really tough battles in the last two days. One step at a time....
He does like his new playgroup "school". Hasn't had much of regular preschool lately thanks to snow and ice. No school tomorrow because of the holiday... maybe Wednesday will be the start of some real routine? Maybe?
OH and the boys finally met their new baby boy cousin this morning. (He's about two weeks old now) Jonathan didn't care at all, Simon wasn't quite sure how to react, but Ben was ALL over it. He even held Baby W. So sweet....
I think that's all the updates I have for now... I'll add some photos to this post later! :)
In no particular order...
There was an ice storm. We didn't lose power, thankfully. Still, ice is awful.
Simon had a med check at the pediatrician, which is essentially an extra well-visit. So for record-keeping purposes -- he was 54 pounds and 48-1/2 inches. He is starting to grow taller, but not heavier... he looks like he has been stretched out!
Report cards came home.... Ben's was stellar, Simon's was kind of worthless and didn't communicate a whole lot (except for the comments, which were helpful, detailed and very good!), which is why I was glad I had a conference with his teacher, at her request. She reports he is doing SO well these days. She had samples of his work all laid out for me to see and it's really amazing how far he has come. He gets pulled for tests so he can take them with minimal distractions and she says he LOVES this. Two of his good friends go too and apparently they are the envy of their classmates. She says he is a great reader and has very high-level comprehension. (?!) She also said is amazed by the ways in which he goes about solving math problems. Now, if we could only get his desk organized and get him to stay consistent with getting right to work in class. LOL. VERY positive conference though! Proud of him!
This is one of his recent papers. The teacher was so excited about it, she brought me a copy after school one day while I was waiting to get the boys. I love that his teacher is as proud of him as I am. :)
I came down with what started out as a chest cold type thing and turned into what I'm fairly sure was the downsized, flu-shot version of the flu. Oddly, no one else got it. I was okay a couple days later, but am still ultra-tired and this was over a week ago!
Tom left town for a meeting in Florida. No surprise that he got snowed in there... or rather, snowed OUT of here.
It was just the kids and me Wednesday, Thursday and half of Friday. The day he came home, I went to bed at 6p.m.
We have had a lot of fun with this last snow... it was excellent sledding snow and the boys have been in and out. Only positive I have found so far.
I found this one in the side yard saying, "Mommy! The snow won't let me go!!!" It was over a foot and he had a hard time walking. Over the course of a few days, we carved out a path for him to walk to the sledding hill and back. LOL!
Ben had a meds check/well visit at the pediatrician two days after Simon. He is 49 inches tall and weighs 49-1/2 pounds. Like Simon, he also grew heightwise but not weightwise. Unlike Simon, he did not have pounds to spare, so he got a lecture about how he needs to eat lots of healthy snacks and indulge in some milkshakes here and there. Enviable problem to have....
The boys had a sleepover at Grandmom and Poppy's house last night. Frozen theme. They watched the movie (a screener my dad got from somewhere) and had all kinds of ice-themed treats! Well done, as usual Grandmom and Aunt Deb. The kids get so spoiled over there!!! Tom and I went out for sushi for a belated Valentine's date and then went back and got Jonathan, who is not quite ready to spend the night... or rather... grandmom is not quite ready for Jonathan to spend the night. HA! (and neither is mommy... )
Ben has been keeping busy with basketball. His team hasn't won a single game this year though they play well. There are some major issues with the draft system the rec council uses and the way the teams are formed... it's annoying and kind of a bummer for these kids who play SO hard. They seem to be having fun anyway but I do wish they could win a game.
Both older boys are still swimming on Saturdays. Simon hasn't made a whole lot of progress with this new teacher, though Ben seems to excel with her. We're going to make a change in March and put Simon with a different teacher and hopefully Jonathan too. He won't even get in the water with the new teacher unless I get in too. I am really looking forward to the end of May when the pool opens and June when swim team starts. It can't come soon enough!!! There's a chance we actually participate in two swim teams this year.... not sure if that will work, but we'll see. Hoping Simon will participate this year!
Jonathan... that kid is TOUGH lately. Lots of meltdowns and challenging behavior. We've taken a hard line with it and thus, he spends a lot of time in timeouts lately. I think maybe we're getting through to him though... we have won a couple really tough battles in the last two days. One step at a time....
Oh and he also has taken to randomly removing his pants lately... so that's fun.
He does like his new playgroup "school". Hasn't had much of regular preschool lately thanks to snow and ice. No school tomorrow because of the holiday... maybe Wednesday will be the start of some real routine? Maybe?
OH and the boys finally met their new baby boy cousin this morning. (He's about two weeks old now) Jonathan didn't care at all, Simon wasn't quite sure how to react, but Ben was ALL over it. He even held Baby W. So sweet....
I think that's all the updates I have for now... I'll add some photos to this post later! :)
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Another Day Off....
Kids are home from school again today.... ice storm this time! Best winter ever!
How shall I occupy them for this billionth day off? So far, we have only gotten as far as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the couch and cinnamon rolls.
How shall I occupy them for this billionth day off? So far, we have only gotten as far as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the couch and cinnamon rolls.
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
STEM Fair....
Ben has to do a full-on science fair project this year. I am not thrilled about this. He loves science and so do I, but this is beyond the scope of what a fourth grader can do on their own, so we have to help... like a ton... and that's kind of annoying. Not that I don't want to help... but this would go more smoothly a few years from now!
I think we've settled on a pretty straight-forward, if somewhat unoriginal idea involving the efficacy of laundry detergent on removing stains. Our twist is we are asking what the effect of well water is on this. (if the teacher approves it) I'm actually kind of curious myself....
Simon wishes he could participate. He's gotten quite into science lately with the magnet and electricity units the first grade just did. LOL. Definitely my hands on kid! Although aren't they/we all, kind of? Hands on stuff is way more fun than just learning from a book.
I wish all of school was like science!
I think we've settled on a pretty straight-forward, if somewhat unoriginal idea involving the efficacy of laundry detergent on removing stains. Our twist is we are asking what the effect of well water is on this. (if the teacher approves it) I'm actually kind of curious myself....
Simon wishes he could participate. He's gotten quite into science lately with the magnet and electricity units the first grade just did. LOL. Definitely my hands on kid! Although aren't they/we all, kind of? Hands on stuff is way more fun than just learning from a book.
I wish all of school was like science!
Monday, February 03, 2014
My Kids Are Off.... Again....
This morning is a nice mix of rain on top of sleet on top of ice balls on top of snow. The full gamut of winter precipitation. Awesome.
Again, it's the winter that will not die.
I will never be so happy to spring as I will be this year.... whenever it manages to eek itself out.
In other news, we got a new nephew/cousin on Friday night. So that's exciting. :)
Again, it's the winter that will not die.
I will never be so happy to spring as I will be this year.... whenever it manages to eek itself out.
In other news, we got a new nephew/cousin on Friday night. So that's exciting. :)