Small Milestones

Every Monday night, G has the same homework assignment.  He's to write his spelling words three times each.  Today is Tuesday, but since yesterday was a workday with no school for kids, he has Monday's homework today.

Usually this three times each ordeal takes a good twenty minutes.  There is much moaning and gnashing of teeth from both the student and the parent.  Today I took a different approach.  I bribed.

I passed G on his way to my classroom.  I told him I'd give him a treat if he had all the homework done when I got back from putting my kindergarteners on the bus.  He seemed thrilled, but I've heard it all before.  The bribe isn't so interesting when Mom's not around to make you get down to work.

Twenty minutes later, I walked into my classroom.  And...

IT WAS DONE!  My six-year old with ADHD did a homework assignment by himself!

Hopefully, when he's fifteen, I won't be bribing him with candy to do his work.  I hope I can phase out the bribery by middle school at the latest.  But I was proud that he had an incentive and made himself get the work done.  Some good executive functioning going on there!

See? I have ADHD, too!

I have many friends and colleagues that seem skeptical about my ADHD.  I've held down a job for an extended amount of time.  I have managed to keep some of the same hobbies for decades, such as quilting and knitting.  I'd say I'm fairly successful as an adult.

However, I can't stick with things.

This blog, for example.  I fell off the face of the earth.  Its okay- school got busy.

My quilting, for example.  I still do it.  I just haven't finished more than half of what I've started.  My first quilt ever, started while I was in high school, is still unfinished.  (I graduated in 1997...)  I started a quilt with the clothes of my friend's father.  Its less than halfway done, over a year in.

I started needle-pointing a stocking for J soon after he was born.  Its nowhere near done, and this will be his fourth Christmas.

Hopefully this winter will give me some time inside to get some projects finished.  Anyone out there have advice on how to get these projects all completed?  All the new ones call me away before real progress gets made!

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First of all, I'm sorry for dropping off the face of the blog for awhile.  School has overwhelmed me, and my depression was flaring up.  Things are looking better.

So I went to eat lunch with G at school today.  I sat down next to G, and a cute little boy sat down across from us.  The boy looked at me and said, "G has a problem with kissing boys."

Uhhhh...

...

Ummmm...

...

"G, what's he talking about?"

Poor G.  He hung his little head.  "I accidentally kissed A."

"Accidentally?" I asked.  "Or you made a mistake?"  (We have been working for awhile on the difference between accidents and mistakes.  He still hasn't gotten it yet.)

"I made a mistake.  I like him.  He's my friend.  And now he says he won't play with me anymore."

Oh, my heart nearly broke.  For the record, I don't care about G kissing a boy.  There's nothing sexual about G's behavior at this age.  I do care that my little guy is making choices that are alienating him from the other kids his age.  (Plus I'm a little upset that he's kissing anyone at school.  We do not kiss people we aren't related to.  And school is a no-kissing zone.)

So we talked about saying we're sorry.  We talked about appropriate ways to show our affection for friends, like fist bumps and high fives.  We talked about respecting people's bodies.

This gave me flashbacks to my childhood, being unable to control how much I talked or how absurd I was.  I just want G to have friends when he wants them.  I know he can be very introverted, but I hate to see him sad and lonely when he's looking for someone to play with.