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It is 7:42 and my son (who I am going to start calling Pud, a baby nickname) is asleep. He's supposed to be at school at 7:55. He slept through the alarm 3 times. I started to wake him but he was sleeping so peacefully and getting to school has been such a battle this year. So, I just let him sleep. I figure I'll just keep him home today or maybe take him late and let him get a tardy.

I just feel guilty about it. After all, a good mom would insist her child go to school, right? I guess I'm just looking to assuage my guilt. I was going to take him out at 12:30 anyway to go to a Homeschool Group park day. Thanks for being there.

I've done that. It's only one day - everyone needs a mental health day sometimes!

I kept my son home to go to the final day of a science exhibit he wanted to see. The teacher asked why he was absent and he told her "my brother and i really wanted to see this science exhibit and we had to miss school to do it." She said that was OK.

Good for you! A mental health day is a great idea for him. My feeling is that if they are that hard to wake up, they need the sleep more than they need to sit in class:) Enjoy your afternoon in the park:)

Okay, it's now 9:20 and I am regretting my decision. He woke up at 8:30 and I had a physical therapy appointment at 9. I got him dressed, fixed him some breakfast to take, let him pick an activity. We've had a 35 minute temper tantrum - kicking, hitting, screaming, pushing, pulling, running, getting out of seatbelt, fighting over gearshift, getting out of the car, etc. He actually knocked the car out of gear in the street. I had half-carried/half-dragged him to the car. So, now we are back in the house and I have put myself on time-out. He was completely out of control.

I don't know whether to take away priveleges and skip the park, ignore everything, what. He's completely ruined my day - I thought in addition to the park, we could work on some geography stuff he's been asking me about and play some games together. Now, I've got to reschedule my PT appointment (which throws off his schedule) and don't know what to do.

What happened to the peace I envisioned? What is wrong with this kid? If this is the way it's going to be, there's no way we can homeschool. I hate this.


There ought to be a law - sleeping children are false advertising. What a day.

What set him off?

I'm sorry for your day!

And I totally sympathize. I know that if I never saw another temper tantrum, it would be too soon!

Squirt,
Any chance DS is coming down with a cold or something? That is a pretty close description of how my son behaves a day or two before he starts running a fever right sown to the being hard to wake up.

I am sorry for emotional hit going from expecting a fun day to one of strife.
{Hugs}

Squirt - that sounded really great until you got to the part about the tantrum. I hope the day picks up for you!

Uggh Squirt.

I'm with ELH, though. He sounds like he's exhausted and possibly getting sick. I think that you made the right call.

Maybe he is a child who just likes a schedule and was thrown off. I wouldn't toss out HS just yet if you are both interested in that. You could just as easily have a set schedule at home.
In fact, you can see how it works this summer, we are definately following a loose but consistent schedule.
Maybe poor little Pud is fighting of a virus, lots of the creepy crawlies going around. I love that nickname, PUD, so cute. Just want to give a virtual pinch to those little cheeks!
Personally, I wouldn't feel guilty about not sending him to school, although we all have peer pressure to conform! It is uncomfortable to go against the grain. Don't let the man bring you down, YO!!!!!!
Both of my girls have demonstated above grade level ability. Sometimes I find myself wondering WHY I DO send them to school!

I was thinking the same thing!

It's official! Survey says:

Illness: probably
Bad mom: definately not!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

oh many many many hugs Squirt! I had a day like that once. Anyhow, I hope your day recovers. Try to plan some snuggle time even if it's to watch TV to help erase the negativity. Maybe he's coming down w/ something as the others have suggested.

Oh, poor squirt -- and poor Pud! I don't think they have any fun when they're like that, either.

Did you tell him he wouldn't be able to go the park while he was in the throws of the tantrum? If so, I'd follow through on it. If not, then take him to the park. (I suppose you may have already made your decision by now, though!)

Hope things are looking better!

Thanks, all, for the support. We did go to the park because we had made a commitment to another family to be there (they had gone to another park outing where no one showed so the mom was worried). Pud came up with his own punishment - 3 extra chores, which he actually did as well as his regular daily chore. He actually didn't want to go to the park, he wanted to stay home and play chess with me, but I had said "yes" to this other mom so I felt we needed to go. I didn't tell him we wouldn't go to the park, but I did tell him I wasn't sure I would take him to karate class. But, he did 1 1/2 of his chores before karate and asked nicely for help so I took him.

I was able to talk to him about it. He said "I just didn't have enough time to decide what I wanted to eat". (Processing speed?) I think he is so big physically and so intelligent that I forget what a 6 year old needs. It's so easy to treat him like he is 10 or 11. So, we talked about how his behaviour affects other people (ie, the PT's schedule was now off because I had to reschedule, I felt bad because I was looking forward to our day together, sometimes I need to get places at a certain time and he needs to go along with that, etc.). He was perfectly well behaved the rest of the day. We had a few minutes of snuggle time here and there but it was a day where he didn't want to sit still. So, all in all, not a terrible day but not the peaceful interactions I had hoped for when I kept him home from school. He was emotional all day, his karate teacher noted it. He didn't do anything wrong, she said, she could just see something in his eyes.

I don't think he is getting sick. He's been eating everything in sight, so it is more likely that he's heading into yet another growth spurt (at almost 7, he is 4' 3" and weighs about 65 pounds, off the charts almost all his life). Since the growth spurts are triggered by hormones, why wouldn't he be moody. Of course, it's impossible to think about all that. He also told me this afternoon that he wanted to start back on heartburn medication (he was on it for about 6 weeks in Nov-Dec) because he was hurting "there". So, I do need to call the doctor and find out whether to just put him back on the medicine or if we need to see a specialist to rule out any physical problem. I hate to put him on heartburn meds, he's only 6, that's too young to have stress-induced heartburn.

Everything turned out all right and I managed not to spill all to my husband, knowing he would lecture Pud to death. I think he learned a lesson, what with making up his own punishment and getting those things done, and making references to what happened like "we don't want that to happen again" or "that wasn't happy, was it?". Not hiding anything, just wanted to leave it without Daddy getting involved.

So, it turned into a mediocre day. I let him watch TV while he had his lunch because we both needed some chill time away from each other.

Just wanted to update you and let you know all is calm now. I hope we don't have another of these soon. I feel so helpless because all I can do is wait it out.

I'm glad things are going a little better for you!
It seems like you are doing a lot of thinking and analyzing.
Kids are so different from us adults, even when they seem so similar because of intelligence. They really do "feel the world's pain" in one moment, ready to go get ice cream the next. Especially in these years.

Neato