Yesterday Master R. was asked to write a birthday present list so that the rest of the family know what he would like for his 8th birthday. I did say that he didn't need to do the list right this minute but he got his pencil and his sheet of paper and set about writing his list.
Master R. got about 5 items in and then started sulking. You know the look, shoulders slouched, staring unhappily at the task, sulky look on face. So I asked him what was wrong - apparently nothing was wrong. Well, if nothing is wrong, why are you sulking? *shrugging shoulders here*
I never did find out what was wrong, but I ended up telling him to put the list (that he had proceeded to cut up) in the bin, get a new sheet of paper and stick it on the fridge. I thought the list would help him keep track of all those things that he comes up to me really excited about, and then forgets a week later.
Obviously I've gone wrong somewhere along the line, we had a list for Christmas last year and it worked pretty well. At least, we didn't get any of the sulking I'm getting now. Perhaps my timing is off, since it is the last week of a fairly long school term (11 weeks!) and he is tired - those horrible blue/black lines appear under his eyes from about midday and he is sulkier than usual. I can only hope that he will pick up after a weekend of horsey fun and then a week of having to do nothing strenuous then his chores.
Speaking of chores, I'm considering making up a chore chart for young Master R. Over the last couple of weeks he has started enquiring as to "why do I have to feed the chickens?", "why do I have to feed the cats and the dog their biccies?" "why do I have to turn the sprinklers off?". My answers have always been the same... "why do I have to go to work?" lol.
He wasn't to impressed with that reply, so I broadened my explanation. I have to go to work, I do the P&C minutes, I do the cooking and cleaning, washing/drying/folding/putting away, the holiday planning, the home improvement planning, the garden planning, the heavy work, the hard work, the grown up work. He has to clean his room, vacuum & mop his floors, strip his bed and help make it, put his clothes away when they've been folded. He also has to do the chores mentioned above, as well as assist with some of the other things around the house like picking fallen palm fronds up and putting them on the bonfire.
I got the look after that explanation. The look that says he doesn't agree with me, that he would rather watch tv and eat junk food all day, but because he can't come up with a better argument he will leave the status quo. I figure that's progress, at least I didn't get the sulky look again!
Do you have a chore chart for your littlies? How do you find it works? I'm worried that it would look pretty lonely with only Master R's name on this big sheet of paper, but unfortunately that's one of the downsides to being an only child. Another downside to being an only child is having no one else around his age to play with right this minute. You know the times when you say "right, go outside and play" and he walks around with that look on his face like... what can I do? Ok, I exagerate a little. He has his trampoline, his bike, his skateboard & ripstick, his horse, his lego, his books, his pencils/pens/cardboard/paper. Sometimes I think he lacks ideas on what to do, because when he hits on an idea he's off doing 'child stuff'.
I was lucky as a child, I had my amazingly awesome younger brother who put up with so much from me. I also had my horse, and since I was a horse mad girl that was often enough, I could spend hours just brushing and plaiting my horse's mane. Master R. likes horses, loves his mare, but isn't horse mad enough for hours of grooming to be enough occupation.
I live in hope though, he has come from wanting a pony, to not wanting to ride horses/be around horses/have anything to do with horses at all to wanting to ride, to handling them of his own accord. One day that horse mad gene might kick in and he'll be trying to sleep with Bella in the horse yards like I did many years ago with my Nicnac.
Master R. is home from school today, he slept in until 9.45am which is a prodigious feat from him, 8am is usually the absolute latest you can coax from him! This long term is taking its toll on his concentration, several times he has started a sentence when speaking to me only to forget what he was going to say! 4 more days of school left and then he can sleep in as much as he likes, except that he won't want to sleep in! I can't win lol.
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