Monday's Putterings
Topics contained herein:
My son’s not-very-good day and his amazing effort to “make up for it”. (You should see my kitchen.)
Weather / Phenology:
Pretty day but I didn’t pay much attention. I heard something about a possible thunderstorm tomorrow. That would be good.
Mood Summary:
Today was an emotional day for Ch- which means it was a challenging day for me. I made a post asking for advice about one part of the problem HERE but there was more to it than that. My son is terribly hard on himself and he’s used to succeeding without having to try. We had a short but (apparently) productive conversation about his tendency to get weepy and angry when he makes mistakes. I told him:
1) You are not perfect. And that’s okay.
2) You don’t know everything. And that’s okay.
3) School is about learning things you don’t already know. And that’s the way it should be.
4) My job is to find out what you don’t know so that you can learn. And that’s what I’m going to do.
He took it very well once he calmed down. (This particular outburst was caused by his failure to turn an assignment sheet over to get ALL the instructions for a short writing piece.)
Which leads me neatly into my gratitudes:
Five Gratitudes:
1) In an effort to “make up for” his earlier weepiness, my son did the dinner dishes. It was a surprise. I suspected he’d done something like that when he came up to get me with wet hands. Here’s the amazing part: he did a fantastic job! He cleared and washed all the counter tops, washed the dishes, dried the dishes and put them away THEN he cleaned the sink. The room looked better than when I do it at night. (I never dry dishes, for example.) He was so proud of himself. He said, “If you had looked in the pots cupboard you would have found a not-greasy frying pan too.” (Yes. I have a thing about that.) I honestly didn’t know he was capable of that kind of careful work.
2) Now that I think about it, both of my menfolk have been really pitching in around the house lately. Rick not only came looking for a couple loads of laundry to carry upstairs last night, he also put most of it away and folded those small white clothes I hate dealing with. And Ch- put his basket of laundry away tonight when he cleaned his room. (Which he also did on his own.)
3) My flist folks are being way too kind to me these days but I’m very grateful. Thank you for sticking with me even as I flounder around not reading and commenting much. Your input has really helped me feel connected and supported.
4) I got an opportunity to instant message with my daughter for a good long while tonight. She recently sent me some photoshopped portraits of some of our chickens and of Boo - she made photographs look like drawings. Maybe I’ll spend some time familiarizing myself with posting images tomorrow.
5) I’m done with another period. Yay. And Ive got a week at home to look forward to. Life is good.
Accomplishments:
I’m about to go finish my daily dozen - just writing and bathing left. And it’s only three! Sheesh.
Daily Dozen
My Mission 101 List
My Evil-Twin Mission 101 List
Start Date: July 27, 2006 10:00 pm ---- End Date: April 24, 2009 10:00 pm
Goal Level Behaviors
Routines
Cleaning: zones & weekly schedule
My son’s not-very-good day and his amazing effort to “make up for it”. (You should see my kitchen.)
Weather / Phenology:
Pretty day but I didn’t pay much attention. I heard something about a possible thunderstorm tomorrow. That would be good.
Mood Summary:
Today was an emotional day for Ch- which means it was a challenging day for me. I made a post asking for advice about one part of the problem HERE but there was more to it than that. My son is terribly hard on himself and he’s used to succeeding without having to try. We had a short but (apparently) productive conversation about his tendency to get weepy and angry when he makes mistakes. I told him:
1) You are not perfect. And that’s okay.
2) You don’t know everything. And that’s okay.
3) School is about learning things you don’t already know. And that’s the way it should be.
4) My job is to find out what you don’t know so that you can learn. And that’s what I’m going to do.
He took it very well once he calmed down. (This particular outburst was caused by his failure to turn an assignment sheet over to get ALL the instructions for a short writing piece.)
Which leads me neatly into my gratitudes:
Five Gratitudes:
1) In an effort to “make up for” his earlier weepiness, my son did the dinner dishes. It was a surprise. I suspected he’d done something like that when he came up to get me with wet hands. Here’s the amazing part: he did a fantastic job! He cleared and washed all the counter tops, washed the dishes, dried the dishes and put them away THEN he cleaned the sink. The room looked better than when I do it at night. (I never dry dishes, for example.) He was so proud of himself. He said, “If you had looked in the pots cupboard you would have found a not-greasy frying pan too.” (Yes. I have a thing about that.) I honestly didn’t know he was capable of that kind of careful work.
2) Now that I think about it, both of my menfolk have been really pitching in around the house lately. Rick not only came looking for a couple loads of laundry to carry upstairs last night, he also put most of it away and folded those small white clothes I hate dealing with. And Ch- put his basket of laundry away tonight when he cleaned his room. (Which he also did on his own.)
3) My flist folks are being way too kind to me these days but I’m very grateful. Thank you for sticking with me even as I flounder around not reading and commenting much. Your input has really helped me feel connected and supported.
4) I got an opportunity to instant message with my daughter for a good long while tonight. She recently sent me some photoshopped portraits of some of our chickens and of Boo - she made photographs look like drawings. Maybe I’ll spend some time familiarizing myself with posting images tomorrow.
5) I’m done with another period. Yay. And Ive got a week at home to look forward to. Life is good.
Accomplishments:
I’m about to go finish my daily dozen - just writing and bathing left. And it’s only three! Sheesh.
Daily Dozen
My Mission 101 List
My Evil-Twin Mission 101 List
Start Date: July 27, 2006 10:00 pm ---- End Date: April 24, 2009 10:00 pm
Goal Level Behaviors
Routines
Cleaning: zones & weekly schedule