Consequences

"Mom! I still have homework" he said in an exasperated tone. I swallowed the lecture that was bubbling up and ready to spew out. No good would come of this. I remained silent. We were almost at the high school and roughly 25 -30 minutes behind schedule.

I had the morning all planned out. My car was running on empty so I would pack up the pup and get gas on the way to his doggie daycare. I would then drop Sumter at 7:30 and be able to get to my work by 8:00 a.m. Middle son was supposed to take his brother to school. Somehow Colin decided he wanted to leave 20 minutes later and I would take him.

I told him that I needed to get gas and take Sumter to daycare. Colin responded that he could study in the car. After I filled up I proceeded to head to the doggie daycare and Colin was alarmed. He realized the dog was going to be dropped off first and he would be later than he hoped.

We pulled up to the High School drop off at 7:55. There was a half hour before the official start of the school day. Hopefully my passive-agressive message was received. I won't always change my schedule at the drop of a hat.

There are consequences.

The Rest of The Week

It's already Friday and the week has flown by. Colin is still struggling with a crazy sleep schedule. It is tough to wake him up most mornings. He gathers up papers off the printer, makes his lunch and scurries about. I am becoming the main source of transportation in the mornings. And evenings!

I pick him up after swim practice, around 6:00 p.m. We then drive to pick up the pup from doggie daycare. During the car ride, Colin falls asleep on the back seat and it is tough to get him out of the car when we arrive home. He then promptly goes to either the 1st floor half-bath or the upstairs master bath and falls asleep for a several-hours long nap.

Upon waking up around 10 p.m., he has dinner, retreats to his room and hopefully starts homework. At some point there is a late-late-night snack and lights are left on in the kitchen and basement. At 5:00 a.m.(M,W,F) or 6:00 a.m. (Tu, Th) I find him in his room sleeping behind the couch on his giant stuffed dog, wrapped in a blanket.

After a few attempts, I wake him up and begin the routine all over again.

Concerns

We are a bit concerned about sleep schedule but are trying to let Colin self-regulate as long as he maintains his good grades (currently a 4.02).  I have noticed a slight backsliding in behavior. There are more frequent shushes and I heard a few "Die!"s this week when he is intruded upon. I also heard at least one "Thank You" after I performed one of my many acts of kindness.

We are remaining calm and steady while Colin navigates a full schedule of school, swimming,  jazz band and quiz team. It is tough to maintain distance to let our son work things out but I believe it to be critical to do so. He will ask for help when he needs it most.

I will try to remain upbeat and grateful.

As always, we are a work-in-progress!

Happy Friday!