...and it was called by DS5. While on the way home from dinner he told DH and I that he thought we should have a family meeting after his younger siblings went to bed tonight. He wanted to talk about some things that had been bothering him. DH and I had a hard time stifling the laughter but we did honor his request. We actually had a really good 25 minute meeting this evening with him.
DS5 was concerned that he was getting too many time outs and getting into too much trouble at home (admittedly I have yelled at him more in the past few weeks because of his behavior). When it was my turn to speak, I spoke with him about the behaviors that were most often occurring to get him into trouble (hitting his siblings, talking back, being rude). He also said that he was feeling that we didn't care about him as much as his siblings and that we were not spending enough time with over the past few months. This was true since DS5 had requested a brain vacation this summer so we honored his wishes and didn't do any after schooling or reading with him. Prior to the summer DS5 usually got 30-45 minutes each evening of undivided adult attention to work on the topics of his choosing. I know he is finally starting to miss that special time and wants his brain to return from vacation.
During the meeting, DS5 decided that he would prefer that instead of going to his room for timeouts and getting into more trouble he would direct his energy to doing some work on his handwriting or something else more academic. DS5 states that he tends to misbehave more when he doesn't have something to keep his brain busy. He even decided that this weekend he wants to create a book on various weather topics.
DS5 also voiced frustration that he needs to learn harder math. He actually said he won't be happy unless he learns more math this year. (Almost positive that he will not get his wish in his K/1st grade classes and we are looking into hiring a private tutor).
I am very proud of him for realizing some of his frustrations and voicing them to us tonight. It was so cute watching him facilitate. As DH and I would make a comment he would ask the other to either agree, disagree or add our thoughts. It also seemed like he had spent a lot of time thinking about what he wanted to say.
