Special Needs Skills Always Needed

Ok....it's been awhile since I've blogged. I've been busier than a squirrel gathering nuts for winter. Lots of stuff going on.

I do believe that when my son is raised that I should have an honorary law degree at the most prestigious university in the world. My son can seriously find any loophole in any possible rule there is to be had. He's done it in school, at home, with his dad, and with countless others. Lucky for him he's so dang cute because there are days when I'd like to give him to the nearest band of gypsies taking new members.

This week he's taken 3 times the time it would take to do his homework and used that time to try to get out of his homework. Tuesday his resource teacher came and got me to tell me that he had stuffed himself in to his locker because he didn't want to take notes for science. Apparently he was mad in there but wasn't causing problems so they decided to let him stay for the remaining 40 minutes of the day. When I finished with my last class I walked up to his classroom and looked inside the locker. I approached with my most caring self to see what was bothering him. He had refused to do his work in class and refused to go to chorus; which is totally unlike him. I found out he was having girl problems! GIRL PROBLEMS....IN THE 6th GRADE FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! I talked to him until school was out and he seemed to be calmed down.

I asked his science teacher for her notes so we could make a copy of them and he could copy them. When he is in one of his moods I have to be careful about how to approach things. I allowed him to still go to the library but for a shortened amount of time after school. He loves to go to the library after school and hang with his friends along with gaining some independence. I like having time to unwind after work too so it's cool that he goes there.

Before letting him go to the library I told him I'd let him go but he had to do all of his homework plus copy the notes with no complaint before I'd agree he could walk to the library. He agreed, even though he didn't want to. He'd agree to anything as long as he could go to the library.

When he got back he did all of his homework without complaint........until I brought up the notes. His response to me telling him he needs to copy the notes he didn't do in class is that I made a copy of them so he really doesn't need to copy them because there is already a copy there. My simple reply was, "Nice try. Now go to your room and copy those notes."

Seriously, 5 hours later he was finally finished copying down 2 pages, front only, of notes for science. EGADS!!! At the end of the night he was whining and crying that he was sooooooooooooooooooooooo lonely and needed company and a shower and a snack and a hug and all the things he usually enjoys. However I told him that when his homework was finished he could have all those things as long as he was done at a reasonable time.

So he brought me his notes, and he's a smart one. He had copied every other fact down, thinking I wouldn't check them. When I noticed and stated that he missed some very important stuff, his shoulders slumped because he knew he'd been busted. He was sent back to his room to finish the notes and began wailing in utter agony. Finally at 11:00 p.m. the notes were completed to my satisfaction and he was allowed to go to bed. He wasn't even hungry by that time, just exhausted. I snuggled with him for a little bit then left him to sleep.

Today his teacher caught me and told me that it must have worked because there was more of the same to do. I had told her the other day he was up until 11:00 P.M. getting them done. She told me he copied every note perfectly and with no mistakes and no complaints. We both smiled at each other knowingly and agreed that it must have worked, at least for the time being. Hahaha. That kid is something else. He constantly keeps me on my toes.

Then we got to school and I joined my 3rd graders for reading\spelling class. They had been writing story leads all week (like the first sentence of a story and that sentence is supposed to catch the reader's attention). It's been a blast. I love writing and I love helping teach writing. I try to make it fun for the kids and so does their teacher and the other helper besides me. So the leads were finished yesterday and today they were all on 3 sheets of paper. The kids were told they had to pick out their very favorite story lead and circle that one so they can start on a story with that lead tomorrow. One of the boys said, "What if I don't like any of them?" I piped up and said, "Well Caden, if that happens then I'll pick one for you and I already know which one it is!!" He was being a brat so I decided to be a brat too. haha. So of course he asked which one and I said, "It's the one that says, I love my best friend _________________ because she is sweet and kind." Well everyone erupted in to giggles including him, but then he decided that's the one he wants to use about his "girlfriend". We all cracked up laughing at him and the entire class chuckled about his reaction for at least 2 minutes.

I really think all the kids really enjoy writing class even though they would never admit it. It's a very creative class and I love to read their stories. They know that so they show me a lot of the stories they write.

Also, in my school they do a Christmas and winter craft night. Several staff members, including myself, are on a committee to plan this night. I have one craft I made up and there's one craft that was kind of forced upon me. Both are going to be just fine. I was figuring out how much ribbon I was going to need for these necklaces that the kids will be making. Well I have 112 plastic M&M's (this is the project I did not pick), all the beads I will need but I was figuring out the other day how much ribbon I was going to need. So I figured, 112 M&M's and each necklace will need about 21 inches of ribbon to complete the necklace. 112x21=2352. So I wrote down 2352 feet instead of inches! OOOOOPS!!! Can you see where I'm going with this? So the head of the committee went out shopping for stuff last night and asked me this morning about this number. I said, "OH MY!! You're right, I don't know what I was thinking!!!" She chuckled and said, "I think you gave me inches instead of feet." Of course I felt really stupid and then started laughing...we laughed and laughed and then when I caught my breath I said, "Now do you see why I teach special ed? I'd never make it as a regular ed math teacher!" We laughed even harder and both had smiles on our faces to start the day. Now the mistake has been fixed and I am officially ready for craft night on December 5. It's a ton of people that come for crafts but it's so fun!! I can't wait.

I hope all have a good night.