Yea, I’m driven all right. Driven right to my knees to beg for mercy. And patience. Although, I think at this point all patience is being driven OUT of me.
One of my kids is really testing me. I struggle with this child. Last week was our first week of school. We were all excited about new books and I was excited because I thought… ‘OK, we’ll leave the struggles of last year behind us because we have another year of maturity under our belts!’
Nope. Same old struggle. I gave out the syllabus and asked said child to read and complete. I came to correct later – in this case tonight because it’s been a hectic weekend - AND the WORK IS NOT ALL DONE! Now, this is not said child mis-understanding what to DO, but said child not doing the work for some reason.
The reason doesn’t matter so much, because none of them are good reasons at this point. Also, I’ve already given said child opportunities to complete all the work (I checked on Friday night to make sure it was done, saw it wasn’t, and asked said child to do the work on Saturday).
I do not enjoy this.
Normally, I wouldn’t be waiting this long to correct schoolwork and I’d have caught it on the day. I just so badly want to be able to trust this child to work independently and keep giving said child opportunities to earn my trust (ie. earn it back). I’ve tried MANY teaching styles & ideas with this child, but if you have a suggestion, I’d like to hear it.
St. Thomas Aquinas (academics), St. Ambrose (learning), St. Nicholas of Myra (children), St. Aloyisious Gonzaga (youth), St. Jude (desperate causes/situations), and St. Gregory the Great (teachers) please intercede on behalf of this child.
QUESTION: Do any of you have a child who wants his/her reward before the work is done or before the work is quality … and says so?!? One of my kids and I go round and round about said child wanting X and being willing to work for X. I say, show me the work and I’ll give X, gladly! This child retorts that having X will ‘help’ produce the work!! Sounds like Fool’s Gold to me.
A STORY: Now, some may laugh, some may not, but this is my life and I’m a work in progress. So, my 5yo was with his dad driving back from Fargo last week, and he tells my husband, “I can’t wait to get married!” My husband was a little surprised at that kind of revelation from a 5yo, so he asked, “Why?” My 5yo replied, “So I don’t have to live with the screamy lady anymore.”
Mary, Mother of God, please intercede for this ‘screamy’ lady and instruct her with your gentle ways.
Good Night!
OH OH OH I loved the screamy lady story.
ReplyDeleteHang in there! Life is crazy with kids.
You have my sympathy. That kid in my house started high school this year -- not at home. Of course, it was always the plan, he goes to the same school my husband and my older sons attended, so it was an easy choice. It's a good school and challenging and secretly I was happy it was going to kick his behind instead of me!
ReplyDeleteThe last two years at home were challenging for the two of us. The only advice I can give is don't let him/her get away with it. There should be punishment for not doing school work. Imagine if your child went to school and just didn't do the homework and failed. You would be pretty mad! That's exactly what is happening at home except you are the safety net.
Don't continue to be the safety net. It will get to be a bad habit. Strong consequences stated ahead of time (applied to all children) and then follow up. It's a tough job but then nobody every said parenting (and homeschooling!) was easy.
I'm sorry it's still going bad and is so hard. I was thinking that if this child wants to act like a child, then treat him/her like a child. He/she must bring you their work immediately after they are done, before moving on to the next subject.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your 5 year old will marry my 5 year old? She is always talking about who she is going to marry and when she has babies and last week she said (because I didn't make corn with supper) "When I'm a mommy, I'm going to make corn for my kids." (she said this like a few hours after and hadn't even made a fuss that there wasn't corn. She was just a little disappointed but went happy go luckily along with it.
I'm sure you felt bad, but you know he just needs to probably have some "mommy time" with the happy mama he usually knows.
School is stressful, I will pray for you.
HA ha ha! Cheeky five-year-old's and how they bring us down to earth!!!
ReplyDeleteMy eldest is the "give me now and I'll deliver later" child. Do NOT do it. I've paid the price forever. I have been telling him this (regarding school) for the last five years: Son, you know better. You know what you need to do. You have to graduate from high school. No cheating or cutting corners. The grades are worked for (some harder than others). Grades are not the sum total of who you are - don't ever believe that for a minute! BUT, do keep in mind you get out of things what you put into them. You can be your own worst roadblock. etc.
You have my prayers and sympathy.