Joseph is easily sidetracked. He has such an active imagination and it is always going, that he often forgets what he is supposed to be doing. I wouldn't exactly call it stalling. I think stalling implies that he is doing it on purpose, that he is consciously thinking of something else to do to avoid the task at hand. His is more involuntary. He thinks of something fun in his mind and just gets carried away. I then have to steer him back on track. I understand this about him and so, I plan for it. If we have somewhere to be at a certain time, and I know it physically takes him 10 minutes to get ready, I allow for 30. He WILL get sidetracked. Usually he's playing some superhero game in his head, or thinking about a great idea for a book, or checking himself out in the mirror (the boy LOVES his hair). We have an afterschool ritual. It includes: snack, homework, chores, reading, scriptures, and then if he didn't get sidetracked too much, there is time for play. We also have an after dinner ritual to get ready for bed. It includes shower, brushing and flossing teeth, family scriptures and personal and family prayers. If he gets it done in a timely manner then there is time to watch a tv show before bed. If not, then it's straight into bed. I always factor in plenty of "sidetracked" time to get everything finished and still have time for a show. But sometimes he is just in another world. Tonight it took him 20 minutes to brush and floss his teeth. He got distracted by the mirror. Needless to say, there was no tv show before bed tonight.
1 comment:
Ben and him must be related...
Post a Comment