A day in the life of the House of Boo (who currently rules our lives)
7.20 - 7.30: wake up, say good morning to sleepy children while I still love them.
Go to Bathroom, Make coffee, Really wake up, make lunches, pack lunch boxes into school bags and put them in the hallway.
8.00 - 8.30: Kiss children again, still sleepy. Get self bathroomed, washed and dressed.
8.30: Approach Boo again and say Good Morning; this time pull back covers a bit.
Prepare clothes for Bratty and go into her bedroom to dress her, while she is still sleepy and cooperative. Get her socks on her and get her mobile. She goes down stairs.
8.45: Approach Boo again, this time trying to get him to take off his pyjamas, put on his clothes and come downstairs.
9.00 am: Boo is still under the covers, has removed all clothes that I have managed to put on him.
9.15 am After various threats about televisions and computers Boo has acquiesced to putting on some clothes but has now decided to arrange for what DVDs he wants to bring downstairs and watch after school.
9.30 am: After a lot of screaming (me) hand-biting (Boo) and Crying (both of us) Boo has finally come down stairs, arranged his afternoon viewing choices and been dragged forcibly into the car, where Bratty has been happily awaiting us for at least 15 minutes.
I drive out of the driveway while phoning School to say that yet again we are going to be late and the tutors waiting in the lobby should go and do something else for half an hour.
10.00 - 10.10 am: Arrive at school and bring Bratty skipping to class. Return to car and begin whole process again with Boo.
10.10 am: Go to the Supervisors office while Boo's Supervisor, Tutor and the School Director go and get him out of the car.
10.20 - 10.30: Talk to Supervisor and Director about what a nightmare Boo has become and how his arrival into Puberty is affecting his behaviour. We have control issues, we have independence issues, we have I want my Mummy, No I don't need you, yes I do, now I am going to lie on the road and make mud angels -type issues.
10.30: Drive home wearing dark sunglasses via Costa Coffee in Carrickmines for whatever the hell they call the largest latte. (The staff call it a large, The customers call it a large, why oh why do you have to call it a grande or vende or Gina Lollobrigida for fecks sake? I just want COFFEE)
Then Boo's Supervisor came up with this.
It really shouldnt work, but it does. He objected to using it himself, he refused to countenance the token board or the "no DVD" symbol it came with.
But every morning I hand him his next item of clothing and hold up the little card and he does it. I don't nag, I don't plead, I don't scream or cry. I just keep holding it up until he does it. When we get to the end I do have to work hard to get him down stairs but I have found it cuts the getting ready time by 30 minutes. I think he hates it, but even when he says "No Schedule" and tries to put it away, he puts on the next item of clothing just to get it over with.
This is not the only change we have made this week. We have been through a hellish couple of weeks, but some of the solutions that the School Director and Boo's supervisors have suggested are starting to work. Thankyou.
More tomorrow.
xx
Sorry this is so late but Blogger was taking approximately 22 years to load one photo today, and Boo came upstairs and got hold of the mac and closed the post and wrote 3 of his own weird credit posts without saving the fecking picture!!!
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