Nick Drama
SO, for the last two weeks I've asked Nicholas if he has had a spelling list on Monday. He said no, and that was that. Well, apparently, after e-mailing Mrs. Macomber, it appears that he HAS had spelling lists, and after asking Nicholas about it, it seems he hasn't wanted to do the work that I require of him so that he'll get good grades. UGH!
Today I was at my wits end, when my boss walked by. He asked if everything was OK, and then I remembered that his wife has a masters of psychology, and has worked with kids off and on for the last 15 or so years. I told him about the situation, and after a while we got his wife on a conference call so I could ask her advice. HOW COOL IS THAT?
She recommended me signing off on his spelling list each Monday and having Nick show it to the teacher on Tuesdays to verify my seeing it. She also recommended that we come up with a contract for studying, and a consequence if he doesn't do it. So Nick and I decided together that he would study for 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after dinner. If he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain, he has to stay home on a weekend that Grandpa Radziewicz keeps the kids - meaning Kaila can go but he can't. He signed off and we immediately went to work studying this weeks spelling words. I must say, even after one night of studying it seems like he has all but 4 or so down pat.
Judy's advice was so encouraging. She also reminded me that I needed to be calm and not back Nick into a corner when questioning him about the spelling lists. It worked, we had great conversation, and got this thing settled. I just explained calmly that failing because we're lazy isn't good enough in this house, and we are going to work every day to get smart. End of discussion :)
Have a good night, I'm off to watch SURVIVOR!!! :)
posted by Beth @ 7:59 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
holy cow, what a full-time job!!
sounds like he responded well to you today though, that's a good sign :)
hopefully he'll quit being lazy and work harder.
good for you for staying calm =)
i'm on dial-up at the farm, using gary's work laptop...it takes 4 times as long to bring up a web page but it's worth it!!
The little stunt that Nick pulled happens all the time. Fortunately, you did play along with his game for very long. I have sat in many P-T conferences and the parents really believed that their kid "didn't" have the work. Surprise! Keep up the great work. Hopefully you can instill some great work ethic in him before he leaves you.
OK that should be didn't play along. I've got to start proofing before I hit send. sorry
Great work Beth! It is awesome the resources that you have! All this hard work and heartaches will make a difference in Nick's life even if no one can see it now...he'll someday thank you and Kyle! Hang in there...you're doing great!!
Now you have stepped into my world. We went through the same issues in this house and just had to convince children that we were one step ahead of them and that we WOULD find out. I suspect he has never had anyone stick to rules for a whole month, let alone school year, like Aunt Beth and Uncle Kyle. ssh
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