Tiresome Tuesday

MORNING MUSINGS: The day started off pleasantly enough. Before he'd even gotten out of bed, CJ told me that when he's a man, he'll eat Goldfish (crackers). "I'll have some, and I'll save half the bag for my kids. But I won't let them eat too much, because I don't want them to get too full."

I told him I thought that was a good plan. :)

BACKGROUND MUSIC: Since Musikgarten was this afternoon, we had to make sure the kids had all their homework done. They each had to draw a picture representing the British story of Dick Whittington. They had that done in short order.

Next, they had to play "Mouse, Mousey" on their glocks. No trouble there.

Then it was time to do some transcribing. They were to get the notecard folder in their music bag, find their white notecards in that notecard book, and copy those notecards onto the pink pages in their spiral bound workbook.

Annabelle managed to follow those steps. CJ, well I might as well have asked him to circumnavigate the globe. He found his bag, but he couldn't find his folder, couldn't find the cards, couldn't find the pink sheets in the spiral notebook, and it was the kind of couldn't where he alternates between doing absolutely nothing and looking in truly, truly ridiculous places. It alternates between being painful and infuriating to watch. And once he did have his act semi together (which took a long, long time), he totally butchered the transcribing (which is something he's done lots of before with no trouble).

I told CJ that I think part of his problem is that he's really not listening to verbal cues/instructions the way he needs to be, so he gets caught off guard, he gets frazzled, he falls behind, and he doesn't have the directions he needs to get himself back on track because he wasn't listening. Instead, he just gets more and more confused, further behind, and annoys people who are waiting for him to get on the same page.

So after the note transcribing debacle, I told him were were going to play a game. I was going to give him a simple series of directions and he would do them - whatever they were - in the order they were given. And so I said things like, "Go pick up green blanket, put it on your bed, then come stand next to me and turn around three times." Or, "Go into the kitchen, get a cup, get a drink of water. Bring your sister a drink of water, and then go sit on the couch." Or, "Get a bowl, put three toys in the bowl and set the bowl on the TV tray."

It sounds so simple, doesn't it? That's because it is. However, it's only simple if a) you are listening when the directions are given and b) you retain those directions in your brain (instead of, say, going back to thinking about some video game soundtrack).

When we were doing the directions drill, CJ was nearly perfect, which proves to me (and to him, which is important) that he CAN do it. What we really need to work on is for him to stay engaged with the other people in his proximity, especially when it's a situation where they're likely going to be asking you to do something (like in a class).

Obviously, for some people the whole 'do as I say' comes pretty naturally. In this instance, CJ is not some people. So we'll keep working on this.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: About 10:30 we had to make a run to Shoreline/the Home Education Exchange (HEE).

Ever since we enrolled in HEE, I have been struggling to get their online database system to work for me. Or for me to work with it. Or to get anything to work, period. Most urgently, I wanted to try to get the kids signed up for a workshop up there. However, I was having no luck, and, unfortunately, since we're late to the game (school year), most of the classes that I wanted/would work for us were perilously near capacity.

We headed to the office to ask the office manager for some help. Boy, was that the right move. She got me into the scheduling interface in no time flat. I told her what I really wanted was to sign both kids up for a science class, but there was only one opening. She volunteered to go find the teacher and see if we could bump it up a spot to accommodate them. I said that would be great, and that we'd go kill some time in the library while she did that.

The kids enjoyed exploring the place, and especially dug the sailboat reading space (pictured atop today's entry). There's no budget for a librarian, so it's an on your honor system. You check out a book by by taking it and check it in by returning it. I wonder how many books they lose each year. ...

I found a favorite book of CJ's on the shelf - "Arnie the Doughnut." It's by Laurie Keller, one of the kids' favorite authors (she also wrote "The Scrambled States of America" and "Open Wide, Tooth School Inside").

CJ sat in the boat and read it until the office manager came and gave me the good news that the science teacher said OK, so CJ & Annabelle will now have science in Seatac Wednesday a.m., and science in Shoreline Wednesday p.m. Hell-ooo I-5!

MATH MELTDOWN: This afternoon I had the kids each do a double digit subtraction worksheet (like 58-39 type stuff). CJ got 18 out of 20 wrong. THREE times (no, not the same 18 wrong each time). He got it wrong at home. He got it wrong during his do-over on the way to yoga and he got it wrong on the way home from yoga. I do believe that's a trifecta.

What was interesting, is he kept getting it wrong in new and different ways. It was so perplexing, and frustrating.

I sure can't wait for tomorrow. It almost has to be better for CJ. ...

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR: We needed a little levity, so we stopped by the newly redone Jefferson Park on our way to yoga. It was a beautiful October afternoon.

INTERGALACTIC SHOWDOWN: Following dinner tonight the kids and Christian had a protracted play session, which was good. CJ, especially, needed some capital F fun.

The three made aliens out of some "Bonz" we have. CJ's was Smeller. "He tries to get things dirty," he explained.

Annabelle made Ostrich Woman. "She helps makes stuff clean with the emperor. She's like the princess," says Bee.

Christian's alien was "The Galactic Overlord with soap and water cannons on my head."
Now that's some good, clean fun!

HEAVY ROTATION: The CD "This is Fun!" has been spinning in our CD player since Saturday morning, when Christian took the kids to see Caspar Babypants at the Fifth Avenue Top Pot Doughnuts (talk about the best of both worlds). This is the second time the kids have seen "Caspar" - who is actually Seattleite Chris Ballew, of Presidents of the United States of America fame.

The concert was about a hour long, and the place was packed, Christian reports. The kids loved the music as much as their chocolate doughnut bars.

This evening we watched the video for one of the tracks on the new CD, "Googly Eyes." The kids loved the relatively low tech animation. It prompted CJ to say he wants to be a video editor.