Countdown

One week left of school. I hope it drags by. Squeaker is taking summer school classes so at least that will allow them to get out of the house some. She is in special ed and they offer summer school whether it's needed or not so I always sign her up.

As if to give us a taste of things to come, Sparky and Squeaker had meltdowns on Friday earning room time that afternoon. Given the chance to calm down and start over the next day, both decided to keep going losing their Saturday privileges as well. Squeaker and Drama Boy have also been sniping at each other.

My goal this summer is to impose a consequence when needed and then walk away and let Squeaker rage it out, sort it out, and get some control before I talk to her again. I have a hard time letting rudeness, hatefulness, and disrespect go for the moment to be addressed later. The result is that she continues to escalate, slamming doors and screaming nasty names at me. If I can control the urge to come back at her right then, she is usually able to calm down, apologize, and accept consequences later.

A therapist once told us "When you take kids for short term you work on the kids but when you do long term care you have to work on yourself". I found it to be pretty annoying and patronizing coming from someone who does not have to live with raging children day in and day out...even if there is a lot of truth to it.