No post for ages I know!! No point in apologising as now the round of clubs, school and work had started again it's only going to get worse!!
So back to school! How's it going for everyone ? Anyone else turned into the screaming banshee yet, or is that just me?
To be honest I am 2 large glasses of red wine in tonight and feeling a bit battle weary! You see today, Sunday, was homework day. Yes, we always have really good intentions to get homework done 'on the night it's given' but something always gets in the way. An after school club, me being exhausted, a sore throat, a sick dog - an endless list! Today, between the four Moglets, we had to make a cake in the shape of a cell, make a 3d nose with accompanying mucous cell model, revise binary code, make a poster about a progressive illness, write a poem, define a list of words for philosophy, complete a page of grammar, a page of maths x2, plus spelling and reading! All in a day's work!
But to be fair, as far as Moglet#2 was concerned I actually though we were doing OK. He seemed on top of his homework, the planner seemed to be in use, none of the dreaded emails had arrived. But, then, this weekend I scratched the surface!
It started when he arrived home last Friday saying he had a dentition for forgetting to do a piece of homework. Now technically this isn't possible- not if all the systems are followed! Systems being,homework goes straight away in the iPad calendar- if he is given enough time to type it in, ( Key words here being 'enough time!!'). Or he is allowed to photograph instructions from the board. If the teachers actually check he has recorded it then that's a huge plus!
Next step of the system - Moglet #2 comes home, I check his planner and together we write it on the whiteboard in his room.
It sounds like a fool proof system but for anyone dealing with this on daily basis you will know it's not! Any number of distraction can get in the way - at any stage!! For example, if the instructions are given verbally as everyone is leaving the room, as in a kind of throw away comment then, well basically forget it! Or if there was a vital sheet that accompanied the homework that has been misplaced.
So what I am saying is that after a purple patch, where this Moglet Mummy was allowing herself to bask gratefully in the feeling that all was well, the wheels have fallen off a bit! Nothing drastic, we will get back on track, but it's a reminder that we will always have that extra bit of effort to put in to keep us rolling smoothly.
And to be honest it's taken me back to that age old problem; separating out what is normal pre-teen, putting it bluntly, " just can't be arsed!" behaviour. And what is related to a genuine difficultly. And if I can't tell and find a way through, I am not sure how anyone else is supposed too! It's so hard not to lose the plot when a piece of homework is forgotten or Moglet #2 can't remember where the vital question sheet is. And no matter how many times I tell myself this is not the end of the world, keeping calm is not always my strength!
I have talked so many times about the nonlinear nature of Dyspraxia, the challenge that is presented by the fact that what your child can manage perfectly well one day seems like an uphill battle the next. Throw in the teenage hormones and it's a fairly heady mixture! But if I don't remember the challenges then who will? Sometimes being an advocate for your child is the hardest job in the world!
Now where's the wine!