Last Friday, Daniel was being stubborn. And when Daniel does stubborn, he doesn't half-ass it. He was hiding under his table, out of sight from his class, refusing to even write the next letter (it was the "n" in "I can"). And I'm trying something new, where I don't punish. Because that has never worked. Instead, I've been telling him, "Okay, but you don't get to play Minecraft until you write this sentence." And I feel pretty good about that? Like MAN, I cannot WAIT until the responsibility of motivating education is off my plate. A school environment would do wonders for this kid. As it is, I have a hard time keeping Echo from running around naked in the background.
A strange side effect, though, is that DanPar has been doubling down on his stubbornness. So, all weekend, I had the assignment, the single-sentence assignment, ready to go. And every day, he's decided against doing the work, and instead finding other things to play with.
Which is... honestly kind of cool, although definitely not at all what I was trying to get from him. He'll decide that this sentence is SO LONG (it's not that long) that he'd rather get on shoes and play on the swings.
...oh darn?
The boys have all been pretty emotionally taxing. Crash screeches, Echo clings, and DanPar doom spirals. It's a lot to handle. Jessi and I have started spending our free time doing awesome productive creative things, like writing and drawing, but on rough days, which aren't uncommon, sometimes we'll just collapse at the end of the day.
It's gonna get better, right? The boys are just so much right now. Echo's young, he'll grow out of it. Daniel will go to school, and we won't have to be his everything. And the weather is getting warmer; we'll be able to send the boys outside, so at least when Crash screams, it won't be in a contained space!
But I'm very proud of my boys. The basement's a mess, but it's a mess of Duplos and Legos and Megablox and wooden train tracks and all sorts of fun building projects. I wish they'd clean up what they aren't playing with, but more than any of that, I'm just so darn glad that they're building, being creative, and sharing all their creative energy with each other and their cousins!
I caught Crash Boy singing Wellerman the other day, and that's AWESOME.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A6XcFE4CL8
Echo keeps getting more and more capable with his sentences, participating very well in our nightly "What was your favorite part of the day?" (He used to just say Jaina and Josie, no matter what actually happened that day.) And sure, he's clingy, but when he snuggles up in our bed the middle of every night, I know it'll be one of those things I might miss one day.
These boys.
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| This sweet boy refused to nap! |
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| Aunt Jess with all those kids! |
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| Rolling balls off the roof with Grandpa Bill! |
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| All these kids on a tire swing! |
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| Dyeing eggs! |
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| Easter egg collection! |
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| Miss Susan dropped off a bag full of sweets! |
