...when banging your head against the wall is all you can do.
There are several things I've struggled with in life that I feared would, one day, come back to bite me. One was my utter lack of organizational skills. I was a machine at work. Organized out the wazoo! I had to be, or I'd never get anything done. At home? I'm happy when I can find a top and pants that match and remember where I left my purse. Driving the boys to school? Yes, I have done it in bare feet because I couldn't locate my shoes. I'm not proud of that. Back in college, I never knew when exams were or where to go. Term paper? What paper?! And forget about note taking. I stunk.
Then there is the whole "remembering stuff" thing. Birthdays? Important dates? Appointments? Horrible. Simply horrible. If your birthday is the same as mine, or it falls on a beloved holiday (I never forget my friend Beth's birthday on Feb 14th or my Brother's on Christmas Eve) you might have a prayer of me wishing you a happy one. Thank jeebus for FaceBook. I love seeing those little "Today is Shoebeedo's Birthday!" I always pop over to wish people a happy one when I see those reminders. Y'all are the lucky ones. My mom and dad aren't on FB so I am likely to forget to send a card again this year. ;)
Making appointments? Oh no. That means I have to compose my thoughts and MAKE A PHONE CALL. [cue tense horror movie music] Pretty much, anything involving talking on the phone is out. I just got off the phone with one of Tyler's teachers and I am pretty sure I had nothing coherent to say. Deer in the headlights moment.
Which brings me full circle. Tyler is having problems. He lacks organizational skills. He has no clue how to take notes, get his homework done in a timely fashion or tackle large projects. Notes his teachers send home get lost somewhere between their hand, his hand, his backpack and home. They vanish. Mysteriously. Homework? What homework? Yes, they try to keep him organized. We try. He has all the tools, folders, planners and notebooks any child could possibly need. He doesn't use them. They get "lost". He claims he never had them. On and on and on.
[checks ass for bite marks]
So I get phone calls from school. 2 weeks into school and Tyler is already nearly hopelessly behind. He can't find anything, he doesn't want to even try. He is done with school. It's all "stupid". Who does the school look to for help? Me. *sigh* I swear, if I were even SLIGHTLY organized, I would home-school my kids! But I am a hopeless case. I don't even know where to start with Tyler. Good study habits?! What the heck are those???
I think it's time for a family meeting. I need Tyler's buy in on some ground rules. If he doesn't agree to some changes, then I'll just be spinning my wheels and causing more fights. I don't want to fight. I hate fighting! I try to remember back to when I was his age. My mother would nag a bit for me to go get my homework done. Sure, I'd procrastinate. But eventually I'd do it. She didn't have to stand over me. They never checked what I did. None of my teachers ever called my parents. Never ever. I got through school. I'm sure there are things I could have done better. I know I could have gotten better grades if I were more organized and applied myself more. But I didn't. I did the minimum. I got by.
How do I get Tyler to at least do that?! The minimum. Just...get by! I'm not setting the bar very high here.
Then there is the whole "remembering stuff" thing. Birthdays? Important dates? Appointments? Horrible. Simply horrible. If your birthday is the same as mine, or it falls on a beloved holiday (I never forget my friend Beth's birthday on Feb 14th or my Brother's on Christmas Eve) you might have a prayer of me wishing you a happy one. Thank jeebus for FaceBook. I love seeing those little "Today is Shoebeedo's Birthday!" I always pop over to wish people a happy one when I see those reminders. Y'all are the lucky ones. My mom and dad aren't on FB so I am likely to forget to send a card again this year. ;)
Making appointments? Oh no. That means I have to compose my thoughts and MAKE A PHONE CALL. [cue tense horror movie music] Pretty much, anything involving talking on the phone is out. I just got off the phone with one of Tyler's teachers and I am pretty sure I had nothing coherent to say. Deer in the headlights moment.
Which brings me full circle. Tyler is having problems. He lacks organizational skills. He has no clue how to take notes, get his homework done in a timely fashion or tackle large projects. Notes his teachers send home get lost somewhere between their hand, his hand, his backpack and home. They vanish. Mysteriously. Homework? What homework? Yes, they try to keep him organized. We try. He has all the tools, folders, planners and notebooks any child could possibly need. He doesn't use them. They get "lost". He claims he never had them. On and on and on.
[checks ass for bite marks]
So I get phone calls from school. 2 weeks into school and Tyler is already nearly hopelessly behind. He can't find anything, he doesn't want to even try. He is done with school. It's all "stupid". Who does the school look to for help? Me. *sigh* I swear, if I were even SLIGHTLY organized, I would home-school my kids! But I am a hopeless case. I don't even know where to start with Tyler. Good study habits?! What the heck are those???
I think it's time for a family meeting. I need Tyler's buy in on some ground rules. If he doesn't agree to some changes, then I'll just be spinning my wheels and causing more fights. I don't want to fight. I hate fighting! I try to remember back to when I was his age. My mother would nag a bit for me to go get my homework done. Sure, I'd procrastinate. But eventually I'd do it. She didn't have to stand over me. They never checked what I did. None of my teachers ever called my parents. Never ever. I got through school. I'm sure there are things I could have done better. I know I could have gotten better grades if I were more organized and applied myself more. But I didn't. I did the minimum. I got by.
How do I get Tyler to at least do that?! The minimum. Just...get by! I'm not setting the bar very high here.
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