More on Bubs ...
... as if this post wasn't enough.
It seems there is a wide variety of information and opinions out there, depending who you talk to. I have spoke with two pediatricians about Mason's inconsistent behavior and both have told me, "Welcome to the world of boys."
I do believe whole heartedly that boys are so different than girls. Err ... I guess I should say many boys, so as to not completely generalize. They are much more active, they learn slower ... the list goes on. Somewhere in the middle of that is where I get confused with what is normal and what is not normal.
Today was a hard day.
I spent about an hour before school talking to Mason about appropriate behavior. I discussed the five categories on his daily chart and explained in detail what those things meant. We had a really good morning ... he even showered, got dressed and brushed his teeth with little to no fight. Now that is progress. I told him if he earned all five of his stickers at school, that I would take him to Disney on Ice this weekend.
I had so much confidence in him. We had great discussions ... I really thought he was going to be able to do it.
When I picked him up from school, the first thing I did after we got in the car was look at his daily chart.
He got three out of five stickers.
"Mason had a hard time following directions today. He was reminded several times."
"Mason was pulled out of PE class today for being rude and disrespectful to his friends."
I honestly just lost it ... I cried and cried. It wasn't his fault that I had myself geared up to see five stars ... but at the same time I just wanted to know why he was acting this way.
He got upset after seeing me upset and spent some time in his room until I could get the girls down for a nap. After that, Mason and I spent time together talking about what happened at school. And his behavior the remainder of the day was great ... I don't get it.
I have contemplated keeping Mason home for a week and I have told him this as well. But I'm not sure if that will achieve anything. He loves going to school ... he loves it. Keeping him home from school would definitely leave its mark on him, but I'm not sure that is the answer.
Just tonight, he said, "Mom! In a couple days we have the circus at school. Please let me go back to that school, Mom. You have to let me go back. Can I try one more time? Please Mom?!"
Talk about break my heart. I love this kid with all of my soul ... I just wish I could pick his brain a little bit.
I have read a lot today about alternative diets ... in addition to removing the artificial coloring, which we have done all alongfor the most part. It is all very interesting ... and intimidating ... and most likely time consuming.
But for me, that is my first step in trying to rectify his behavior, beyond the sticker charts. I did read a lot about ADHD today as well. I even took a few online questionnaires ... most of which we failed, meaning he probably is showing signs of ADHD.
But those questionnaires are for older kids and many of the questions were hard to answer for a kid Mason's age. I digress. I am trying to keep in mind that if he does have ADHD, he cannot control these behaviors. I have read so much about kids who have this diagnosis saying that their brain was foggy prior to treatment. Foggy, as in ... they can't think clearly and they can't control themselves.
So with that ... I have to try to find a happy medium while we work through this. It comes and it goes ... and this happens to be a particularly bad week.
Despite it all, he is still my sweet little boy that I love so much. And I hate to air his dirty laundry, but this is life ... and that is what this is all about. Life ... the good and the not so good.
It seems there is a wide variety of information and opinions out there, depending who you talk to. I have spoke with two pediatricians about Mason's inconsistent behavior and both have told me, "Welcome to the world of boys."
I do believe whole heartedly that boys are so different than girls. Err ... I guess I should say many boys, so as to not completely generalize. They are much more active, they learn slower ... the list goes on. Somewhere in the middle of that is where I get confused with what is normal and what is not normal.
Today was a hard day.
I spent about an hour before school talking to Mason about appropriate behavior. I discussed the five categories on his daily chart and explained in detail what those things meant. We had a really good morning ... he even showered, got dressed and brushed his teeth with little to no fight. Now that is progress. I told him if he earned all five of his stickers at school, that I would take him to Disney on Ice this weekend.
I had so much confidence in him. We had great discussions ... I really thought he was going to be able to do it.
When I picked him up from school, the first thing I did after we got in the car was look at his daily chart.
He got three out of five stickers.
"Mason had a hard time following directions today. He was reminded several times."
"Mason was pulled out of PE class today for being rude and disrespectful to his friends."
I honestly just lost it ... I cried and cried. It wasn't his fault that I had myself geared up to see five stars ... but at the same time I just wanted to know why he was acting this way.
He got upset after seeing me upset and spent some time in his room until I could get the girls down for a nap. After that, Mason and I spent time together talking about what happened at school. And his behavior the remainder of the day was great ... I don't get it.
I have contemplated keeping Mason home for a week and I have told him this as well. But I'm not sure if that will achieve anything. He loves going to school ... he loves it. Keeping him home from school would definitely leave its mark on him, but I'm not sure that is the answer.
Just tonight, he said, "Mom! In a couple days we have the circus at school. Please let me go back to that school, Mom. You have to let me go back. Can I try one more time? Please Mom?!"
Talk about break my heart. I love this kid with all of my soul ... I just wish I could pick his brain a little bit.
I have read a lot today about alternative diets ... in addition to removing the artificial coloring, which we have done all along
But for me, that is my first step in trying to rectify his behavior, beyond the sticker charts. I did read a lot about ADHD today as well. I even took a few online questionnaires ... most of which we failed, meaning he probably is showing signs of ADHD.
But those questionnaires are for older kids and many of the questions were hard to answer for a kid Mason's age. I digress. I am trying to keep in mind that if he does have ADHD, he cannot control these behaviors. I have read so much about kids who have this diagnosis saying that their brain was foggy prior to treatment. Foggy, as in ... they can't think clearly and they can't control themselves.
So with that ... I have to try to find a happy medium while we work through this. It comes and it goes ... and this happens to be a particularly bad week.
Despite it all, he is still my sweet little boy that I love so much. And I hate to air his dirty laundry, but this is life ... and that is what this is all about. Life ... the good and the not so good.