How whack is it, that when I want to really punish my oldest son, I have to take away reading????? I know it sounds absurd, but ever since about 6th grade, he has been an avid reader. Good right?? I love that about him. We even love the same kind of books. We both love mythological stuff, and history, and biblical fiction. He is so interesting to talk to, it is like having our own exclusive book club. My younger son Michael is developing this love of reading too, which is awesome!! So what is wrong with this picture? When reading becomes as much of a diversion from doing what you are supposed to be doing (studying, homework, annotating, copying notes), when wanting to get to your book makes you rush through a test, it becomes as bad as an iphone, or a video game or TV. Messed up. It feels completely counter intuitive to take it away, but we have to. We took away his kindle, he went to the library. Even though our new agreement CLEARLY states, NO PLEASURE READING DURING THE SCHOOL WEEK.... I look at him reading that book (in complete defiance of our agreement), and I can't bring myself to take it away. I am soooooo wrapped.
I am swirling in chaos! Our little remodeling projects, ie: painting the boys rooms, have resulted in a whirl of mess, mess, mess. My husband has been diligently painting walls, repurposing furniture, meanwhile all of the clothing, shoes, toys, junk, furniture we are no longer using, etc... is lining the hallways and rooms of my house! We have tried to engage the boys in this project, but it has somehow eluded them that they have any responsibility for putting the house back together, so it it a painful exercise of command and whine. Today, we must put it back, we cannot start the week in madness. So my day, is going to be interesting. They need to help, a lot. I need to figure out how to motivate them to help, without them feeling like they are being tortured. Wish me luck, at 10:30, video games, and NFL TV go off, and cleaning commences. I'd better have another cup of coffee, and pray for the next half hour, I'm gonna need it.
Comments
Post a Comment