This was a "Monday week" for Zachary at school and we were all glad for it. Although he complains every morning about going, he's always happy after a day of kindergarten. This week Zach came home with fun stories about gym activities, story time, and recess. He even came home one day with marker lines all over his face. He insisted that drawing all over himself with a black marker was an accident. Is that really possible for a six-year-old???
At home Zach spent lots of time working on Valentines for his classmates. He received the assignment to address all his Valentines several weeks ago since his teacher wisely assumed the task would require several sittings to complete. The Valentines we bought this year fold into little baseball or football games, and Zach figured out how to fold them all just right before addressing them. He also enjoyed covering and decorating a cereal box to use as his Valentine mailbox at school.
Grandma Bartle sent the boys an awesome package this week that they have enjoyed. It arrived just before Zach got home on Thursday, and he was thrilled to put up his feet, watch his new Charlotte's Web DVD, and eat some fun treats that afternoon. Thanks, Grandma!!
We've been working on some positive-reinforcement and incentives with Zachary to help him work through his tendency to lose control of his emotions. Talking about tantrum alternatives sometimes helps, but the behavior is so engrained that Zach can't quite imagine reacting differently in some situations. Before allowing him going to Casey's house this afternoon, I made him promise that he wouldn't throw a big fit when it was time to come home. Zach really had to think about it; he wasn't sure it was possible to be happy when the time came to leave. He asked, "Can I whine a little?" When I told him that wasn't OK, he started to cry just thinking about it. Oh, boy. As it turned out, Zach did cry when he had to leave Casey's house, but he didn't totally lose it, so we considered that progress.
Zach is super excited about Tyler's birthday part tomorrow. Between the rocket in the garage, the party favor bags on the counter, and the cake we decorated this evening, waiting until 10:00 tomorrow morning is almost more than the boys can bear. Tomorrow will be an exciting day for everyone.
At home Zach spent lots of time working on Valentines for his classmates. He received the assignment to address all his Valentines several weeks ago since his teacher wisely assumed the task would require several sittings to complete. The Valentines we bought this year fold into little baseball or football games, and Zach figured out how to fold them all just right before addressing them. He also enjoyed covering and decorating a cereal box to use as his Valentine mailbox at school.
Grandma Bartle sent the boys an awesome package this week that they have enjoyed. It arrived just before Zach got home on Thursday, and he was thrilled to put up his feet, watch his new Charlotte's Web DVD, and eat some fun treats that afternoon. Thanks, Grandma!!
We've been working on some positive-reinforcement and incentives with Zachary to help him work through his tendency to lose control of his emotions. Talking about tantrum alternatives sometimes helps, but the behavior is so engrained that Zach can't quite imagine reacting differently in some situations. Before allowing him going to Casey's house this afternoon, I made him promise that he wouldn't throw a big fit when it was time to come home. Zach really had to think about it; he wasn't sure it was possible to be happy when the time came to leave. He asked, "Can I whine a little?" When I told him that wasn't OK, he started to cry just thinking about it. Oh, boy. As it turned out, Zach did cry when he had to leave Casey's house, but he didn't totally lose it, so we considered that progress.
Zach is super excited about Tyler's birthday part tomorrow. Between the rocket in the garage, the party favor bags on the counter, and the cake we decorated this evening, waiting until 10:00 tomorrow morning is almost more than the boys can bear. Tomorrow will be an exciting day for everyone.
2 comments:
Good luck with the party! Can't wait to hear about it.
OK, I totally cracked up about that "tantrum avoidance" story! We're having some major issues here with Devlin and this just hit the spot. It's funny and utterly depressing all at the same time!
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