Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Poof Behavior

Poof Behavior: noun. Behaviors that can be linked back to a source, and once the source is eliminated, the behavior goes poof.

For weeks, Philosopher Child was getting into trouble almost everyday at school. Not big, principal's office things, but small things like talking during work time, playing when he should be working, and being generally disruptive. Now, although some of it is attributed to boredom (he's shown to be far above his peers in certain subjects), it didn't seem to be all of the problem. And why was he only in trouble in the afternoon?

One day, as I was doing some work in the kitchen, he told me that his sandwich in his lunch had been soggy and he hadn't been eating it. He'd only been eating the fruit/veggies I put in, and even then not always.

"How long has this been happening?" I asked.

"A long time," he replied.

Hold it. He hasn't been eating lunch? And he's only in trouble in the afternoon? Oh, for crying out loud.

I rearranged his lunch box so that his sandwich wouldn't be soggy and encouraged him to eat. His behavior magically improved.

But wait, there's more! If he hadn't been eating his lunch, what had he been eating? Enter Little Hyperactive Friend. For the sake of simplicity, let's call him LHF. Now, LHF, it would appear, brings a donut in his lunch quite often. I don't know if it's every day or not, but it does appear to be often. First off, I don't know why you'd send donuts with LHF at all, as he is LHF (or at least, he appears to me, but I'm no expert). But as I'm not trying to start an argument over parenting/food choices, let's leave it as I don't understand. Anyway, LHF has been giving Philosopher Child his donut. So, he's been going all afternoon with little more than a sugar-covered fried pastry in his system.

Gee, I wonder why he's been getting in trouble?

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Pocksinket

Pocksinket: noun. (A combination of "pockets" and "trinkets." Get it?) A random or out of place item found in a child's pocket.

Items I have found in the boys' pockets include:
broken pencils
rocks
nut to a real race car (no, really.)
bits of asphalt
bits of concrete
restaurant menu
pockets full of sand
broken bits of shells
a green fish tank marble
half a tennis ball
a hair tie (WHY????)
bits of paper
grocery store receipts
small toys
sticks
rubber tubing
corn kernels
leaves
acorns
twigs
plastic counting blocks
small snack-sized raisin boxes
a small star hair clip (again, why???)