Before school started I made a morning routine schedule, in preparation for the start of pre-k. Pre-k seems to revolve around the concept of gaining independence and becoming more and more self guided, so we better practice at home. I found
this schedule online, and for simplicity sake I copied it, printed it, and took it straight of Office Max Depot for some heavy duty lamination. (I never know if it's an office max or an office depot, so yeah, I call it office max depot)
How we use the chart..
I set aside an hour from wake up until we need to leave for school. So wake up time for him is around 7:30-7:40
I wake up before him and nurse Lydia, occasionally when feeling ambitious I also shower.
Then I go to Oliver's room and open his curtain, say good morning, hug, tell him it's a school day or a home day, tell him something exciting about the day (we are going to the zoo, it's sharing letter /m/ day at school, etc), then hand him his schedule and ask him what's up first.
I go set up his tooth brush then dress myself and Lydia. While getting Lydia and myself ready I remind him to do his jobs, and occasionally he does them on his own.
We make it downstairs for breakfast
#7 says gather stuff, we have substituted that for "do a school job" We do a workbook page, or color, or handwriting practice or something to get his brain going.
If there is time between 8-9 he gets to use the ipad until we have to leave.
Also, I set up an area in the laundry room, right by the garage door for his coat, and back pack to hang, and for his shoes to be lined up and ready to go.
In my mind this is perfection. In Oliver's mind it something else, something that just induces SCREAMING.
So much screaming
Screaming when he can't get his shirt on, screaming about having to put his pjs in the laundry basket, screaming about his oatmeal not being cooked to his perfect liking, screaming about his shoes, needing to get in the car, having to be in a car seat. And I don't mean like little fussy noises, I mean his throat is getting horse from screaming so much. Then at school he is fine, happy, bye bye mom, I'm going to have a great day! Teacher reports he does in fact have great days.
Back home, back to yelling about everything.
So, like any good mother in this modern social networked life we live in, I turn to facebook. I'm part of a group that's all moms, and I know someone there will have an idea, or a 100 ideas. I'm not left disappointed, they come through. I decide to go with, what I think are, the three easiest changes.
1. more sleep
2. more food
3. more snuggles
::Slams hand on face:: for not being able to think of such things myself.
Moved getting ready for bed from 8 to 7, so his lights are usually off by 7:30
Every time he starts to even seem fussy I offer him a glass of smoothie, cheese, crackers, grapes, something
A few moms mentioned something about a 10:20:10 method. Snuggle for 10 minutes in the morning, 20 sometime in the day, and 10 more around bed time. I hop in bed with him for a few minutes in the morning and chat with him, make sure we read for 20-30 minutes together on the couch while Lydia naps, and I re took over bed time from Jim.
we've done more sleep, more food, more snuggles since Tuesday and it really has made a big difference
Perfection, no. Screaming, way less. I'll ride the wave.
When Oliver came home from the orphanage I swore his
"issues" could be fixed with hugs and food, and for the most part, they
were....we're lucky like that. He's going through something now,
growing up a little, spending more time at school (7.5 hours a week),
sharing his mama with his sister, and trying to figure out how to use
his words. It's back to basics, sleep, food and hugs. I'll hug the
funk right out of him!
