So today we got a call from Aric’s teacher; she left a message saying that she needed to speak with us because there are problems concerning Aric. I assumed it was about his school work since he got a D on his first math test. I’m always concerned about Aric and academics because it just really isn’t his strong suit. He forte is more with all things mechanical or where he’s using his hands. Put that boy on a farm and he will work his ass off and have the place running in top shape in no time at all. Anyway, Rob went up to the school to talk to the teacher after work, so I don’t have all the nitty gritty details; you know how men can be somewhat *ahem* general. The gist is that Aric has been giving her an attitude and not listening to her at all. He has also showed no interest in learning and is basically being lazy and not applying himself.
So. He has lost the priviledge of riding his bike and skateboard, he can no longer go outside and hang out with his friends or have them over (these will KILL him!). We’re going to tell him the terms and that they won’t change until his attitude does for a week straight, to be confirmed by his teacher. Also tell him if his attitude gets worse, we start taking other things away.
I was thinking, too, another idea might be for him to do drills every night with homework stuff. Like extra homework… so we know he understands it.
We tried a different tack with handling him this time, too. Usually we dole out the consequences/punishment and follow it up with a big ole lecture about his moral conduct. It’s usually sheer torture for him, but I always considered it part of the punishment. Heh! However, I just think some times call for the punishment to be given and the child to be dismissed, left to think about this actions. We’ll see what happens.