Yesterday morning my daughter was antagonizing her brother. Her brother was being mean. Things escalated until I heard him calling my daughter stupid repeatedly. I called the two of them in and levied consequences. For him, there would be no screens during his allotted screen time. For my daughter, there would be no LEGO making with her father that evening. They were mad. That was good.
When I picked up my son from school he asked if there was anything he could do to earn screens back. I said I didn't know that there was. He offered if he and his sister came up with a plan on how they would use negotiation instead of name-calling and violence, would I reconsider?
This was initiative on his part and could end up making a change in how he and his sister interacted. I said pending his father's agreement, if the two of them worked it out thoroughly, I would reconsider. Not promise, reconsider. So it had better be good.
He came in and ran upstairs to start writing. My daughter wanted nothing to do with is so I told her he might make all the decisions in that case. She followed him up. In a half-hour, he came downstairs with a full-page written out. This is the child that hates writing thank you notes and barely gets anything written without us sending him back again.
Here's what the two of them came up with. We have been referring to it ever since.
The Big Boy Update: My son was folding laundry this afternoon. I offered to show him a trick on how to fold the shirts. He said, "I know mom, an old boyfriend from college taught you how to do that. You've already told us all your tricks. You're gonna need to get new tricks."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter had an appointment with Dhruti today right in the middle of her morning EL class. I put her in the car with her Chromebook on her lap and got her connected to the class meet. She was able to be in school and in the car at the same time. Technology.
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