Grace is here! After all of the planning we attempted to do to schedule her birthday, she decided to come early, on January 14. She's beautiful and wonderful and she smells terrific, and I actually have her on sort of a schedule. She's so tiny and sweet, I love to just stare at her. I don't remember the other kids being so easy to take care of, but I'm probably just getting better at this with age. And John is a huge help - he's so excited and nervous and infatuated with her, it almost makes me jealous.
So, last week was weird because John was home, and the baby was home, and Isaac was nonplussed, to say the least. His attitude has been atrocious, despite all of my very eloquent lectures on teamwork and respect. I made an appointment to get his Concerta prescription reviewed and refilled, because he truly seems to be incapable of doing any work on his own without it. The only "good" days we've had in the last two weeks are the ones where I'm working side-by-side with him every minute, reading the questions to him, helping him spell and punctuate his answers, and trying my very best not to get impatient.
I read an article about finding alternative ways to help kids learn, and I'm really trying to come up with ways to spice up Isaac's day. We're trying to do more stuff on the computer, and more art/project-related assignments, and more outings/real-world activities. I keep telling him that if he can just get the basic assignments done in the morning, we'll have time to do more creative things in the afternoon. This is about as motivating to him as me yelling at him (i.e. not at all), which is why I'm praying that the medicine will give him the jump-start he needs.
Grace was born on the day we were supposed to have Isaac's birthday party, which we are now having tonight. It was going to be a sleepover, until Isaac's behavior took a nosedive, and now it's just going out for pizza and ice cream. Simon has been home sick (barfing...ew), so I don't think a sleepover would have happened anyway. I started a new chore system, where the boys earn points for doing their chores, and Isaac also earns points for his schoolwork. I'm hoping that, since Isaac is SO into money and buying things, the points system will encourage him to put some effort into his work. So far, I'd say results are inconclusive. He did a math assignment on the computer (using this cool software that came with the book) and managed to get a 6 out of 22 (27%). I made a catalog for the chore points and the school points, and every Saturday, they each get a chance to either redeem their points for stuff or save them to buy better stuff. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the administrative end of the points system, but I think that at least part of the responsibility for remembering the chores and remembering to track the points lies with the boys.
If you're out there reading this, pray for patience and wisdom (for me), a new respect for his parents and for his education (for Isaac), and an end to the barfing (for Simon).
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