Our third and final MSO concert should have been at the weekend, but after Daniel’s objections at the last one we decided to sell the tickets to a friend on the cheap. So instead Alex was going to attend karate. He’d never done a Saturday morning before and had been talking about it for a while. he got up and dressed without complaint, but when it came time to leave he just froze and said he was scared. it seemed he thought other people would be there that he didn’t know, and that it would be different somehow. We didn’t push it, but when he attended Monday’s session I made a point of asking one of his friends about the Saturday sessions. So we stayed home and Alex was building with magnetic tiles whilst Daniel built a train track. We also played on the trampoline together. We visited vio’s parents together, and Alex was showing us the newest pigeons. We also found some new Wild Kratts episodes! It’s frustrating the Netflix only shows one season.
I have read some things recently, and just incidentally without seeking it, on needs and wants. It was helpful to me at the time as Alex had been quite fussy lately and I’ve been feeling torn between kids and needing to do some other things. i realised that even though the kids have more options and freedoms than most kids, I still get to decide then when’s. So even though I make efforts to get up early and get certain things done before the kids are up, I can’t do everything that way or I’d never sleep! And reality says that sometimes errands need to be run and certain things need to be attended. But i get the choice on when. So I’m trying really hard to ensure it’s when the kids are in a good place mentally, not causing them to stop playing or ushering them to get ready as soon as they’ve woken up (Alex in particular hates to be rushed anywhere!). But most of all I’ve realised that the butting of heads I’ve had with Alex for the past few days needs fixing (there’s been screaming, meltdowns, snatching and not listening by all of us!), and so I made a big effort to get Daniel into bed for a sleep and have some special time. I asked him if he’s like to play a game with me after we’d spent much of the day so far doing things away from each other – Alex had just given himself to the TV because it was safer than me at that time. I had stashed this find from an op shop away for a good time and now seemed like a good time. So we started off with tic-tac-toe as it was familiar to Alex with his love of noughts and crosses. Then there was a race car dice game. We decided to make it a championship and kept a tally of who won a game. Perhaps we can use it again in the future to keep a running total!
The rest of the day was a complete change. We have also implemented a new routine (for want of a better word) when it comes to heading out to martial arts classes. i was tired of reminding/nagging Alex so now i just grab his clothes and set the sand timer. If he’s ready we go, if not we don’t. The timer is always put in his vision. So far Alex lets the timer run out and then says he really wants to go. I’m happy to help him get ready then as he doesn’t mess around. It has made the half hour before leaving so much more pleasant, and he hasn’t missed a class! (Note this is by his choice!) We’re hoping to try some new things next year as perhaps 4 days of martial arts each week is too much of one thing, especially with no more football.