Hello again to a free for all Friday. Reviewing some of my blogs, I've determined my kids look a bit too perfect. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE my kids just like you love yours; but they (like me) are far from perfect. Before I move any further, I'd like for you to think about a time your child really messed up. Think about the anger involved and maybe the words that were said. Finally, think about whether you'd react the same way if you could replay that event.
Maybe Cameron realized this past Tuesday that this would be my topic today. Being the generous kid he is, maybe he thought, "Hey, I'll show dad some great misbehavior so he'll have something to write about on Friday." It was one misstep after another on his part. Who knows? Maybe I made some errors I haven't identified yet. Regardless, after I placed Cameron to bed, my final thought while leaving his room was tomorrow is a new day.
Tuesday started great. We had a good morning and he was in good spirits when I picked him up from school. Unfortunately, on the way home, he had a nose bleed. This has happened so many times, he handles the problem effortlessly. By the time we got home, the blood had stopped so I sent him to his room to change into his play clothes.
Luke likes to go with Cameron to his room to play while Cameron changes. They horse around but I don't mind. I like to let Cameron blow off some steam before doing his homework and having "daddy school." (If you are new to this blog, daddy school is when I give him short assignments which meets his intellectual ability). This day was a bit different. From downstairs, I heard Luke scream and cry. I ran up to Cameron's room to identify the problem. I'm not exactly sure what happened but neither child appeared innocent. I left with Luke and told both of them they had to do better if they wanted to continue playing in Cameron's room.
After Cameron changed his clothes, he took a lot longer with his assignments than usual. He seemed distracted. Cameron even missed two of his math problems from his first grade book. This was unusual because he is working on third grade course work with me. We have a rule in our house. The rule is "we can only miss problems in which we don't know the answer. We DON'T miss problems we know. I gave him my "you better straighten up" look and asked him to concentrate. The rest of his work was good.
After daddy school was complete, I gave the boys time to play. Cameron loves pretending he is a football player and runs from one end of the house to the other. Not only does he play but commentates as well. Familiar phrases are "oh my gosh it's a pick 6" (interception returned for a touchdown to my non-football fans). Another phrase he loves as he runs is "he-could-go-all-the-way."
Normally he does a nice job playing with Luke but the football game Tuesday ended a bit differently. Instead of incorporating Luke, he would throw the ball high over Luke's head and catch it himself. Unfortunately, on his last throw, he hit a picture on the wall that fell and smashed into lots of little pieces. Granted, this was an accident, but he had already shown some odd behaviors. I had enough. I raised my voice (which I seldom do) and said, "SIT DOWN while I clean up this mess".
Even when Lauren came home from work, he started getting a bit mouthy to her. He had to be reminded an early bedtime would be in his future if he continued. The rest of the evening went well.
Before bedtime, I went into Cameron's room to read when I received my next surprise. There was partially dried blood on an area of his floor. Apparently, his nose bleed started again while he was in his room changing his clothes. I must have overlooked it when I took Luke away earlier in the afternoon. I looked at Cameron in disbelief. Normally, he would have tried to clean the mess or at least told me. I really wanted the night to be over with this kid. Instead, I was looking for stain remover hoping to get the blood off the carpet.
When I finally put him to bed, I told him I hoped he "got all the misbehavior out" because he would be on a zero tolerance policy the next day. He understands this to mean there will be no warnings for misbehavior- only consequences. Cameron does not like the zero tolerance policy. For the record, the rest of the week has been great.
I don't know why Cameron had a poor afternoon/evening but I do know this. The greatest children I've worked with have all had times that weren't too pretty. Sometimes these situations are easily explained but other times they are not. I would have been more concerned about underlying problems if I saw a pattern emerging. Since this wasn't the case, I chalked it up to a bad day.
Rest assured that Cameron will have more bad evenings just like your children. We don't know when it is going to happen or the circumstances- only that it is coming. When it does, my advice is simple. Deal with the problems accordingly. But please remember that no matter how bad it gets- tomorrow is a new day.
Have a fabulous weekend! I'll check back in Monday for an education blog. We are going to focus on reading and what it really entails.
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