Back to school

It is the end of term 2.  We had a two day break due to Blizzard Juno.  Coco is still worked up about the prospect of a full day at school.  But at least he got in 4 classes today and 3 yesterday.  School is picking up.  He is doing some homework.  He is not going to get caught up anytime soon.  But he is making progress.  We are headed in the right direction.
     Don't get me wrong.  I am still the bad guy.  We had a far to common, nightly blowout over shutting down electronics.  At least now, somewhere in his actions, I can see the he knows he's wrong.  His tantrums are not what they used to be.  They are not my favorite still, but I have to acknowledge that they are getting better.  Keep moving forward, right?

Blizzard 2015 - Juno

Blizzard Juno dropped over 2 feet of snow on us.  She brought excessive high winds.  We only lost power for 6 hours.  All in all, we fared very well.
     The best part about today?  We lost cable.  With cable out, we also lost the internet.  That is not great for me, as far as work goes.  But the boys had to go old school with the entertainment.  Sure, they still had video games.  They still had to read.  Better yet, they had to play together.  It was a nice sight.  It was certainly the best of a bad situation.

Mostly a Win

Demi gets a "W" today, without a doubt.  Her morning started extremely poorly.  Both boys were acting up.  Caz was his usual sh*t show.  He can't get out of the house on time.  Coco started with a lot of anxiety about going to school.  The thought of a full day was getting to him.  For some reason science and math are ominous to him.  To a Chinaman?  Go figure!  There's not real reason for it.
     Coco set up camp in his go to spot...the crapper.  He stayed there long enough to miss the bus.  Demi saved the day though.  She talked with him.  She soothed him.  She negotiated.  At the end, Coco went to school for 3 classes and lunch.  I will call that a win.  Great job, Demi!

Keep Calm and Duck

My patience is wearing thin.  We are trying to keep everything calm around here, in anticipation of Coco's first full day back to school.  We want to keep the stress levels down.  Breath easy.
     Today is tough though.  Coco is pushing the limits.  We are in the charcoal grey area where he is being a typical pain in arse teenager and having legitimate anxiety.  I think he is trying to play us a bit.  It's wearing on Caz too.  He sees that we are not yelling or screaming.  He's got his own teenage view of the world.
     "You yell at me!"
       Caz forgets all the patience we extended to him, while we were dealing heavily with his ADHD.  That is not to say we are not still dealing with it.  But we are all in a better place with that.  If he acts like a knucklehead, he needs to be prepared to be called on it.
     So tonight, we sit and wait.  We are hopeful for tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

So You Had a Bad Day

Not a stellar day for this Dad.  Coco stayed home from school not feeling well.  I know he did some homework.  But he wasn't pushing himself at all.  I could only stay on him so much while working from home.  I had too many conference calls to be on him all day.  He put his arse down about how much school work he was going to do.  He has a lot of catch up to do.  I try not to overwhelm him.  But I need to push him to do more.
     We had a blowout when I told him to shut down the electronics.   I had also dared ask him to walk the neighbors dog.  Meltdown.  Complete and utter melt down.  I think I should take "I hate you!" and "Get out of my life" as a sign that I am doing things right.  I know we are still battling the anxiety, puberty, hormones, and IBS.  But I am taking a beating.  Just keep getting back up off the mat, right?  I stayed calm.  I did raise my voice once.  But only once.  I think that is OK.  I get one foul, right?  Sure, I do.

Mid Term Exams 2015

Caz has mid term exams all week.  I like that he is actually showing a little initiative to study.  Study habits are important.  He needs to learn how to do that effective now.  the first step is always the hardest.  It's like anything, you need to make a concious decision to do something first.  At least he know realizes that he can't just wing it.  He can't just show up and expect that he is going to be ready. He can't possible think he has retained everything he has learned so far this year.
     Coco starts to up his game to two classes a day this week.  He has picked out his proposed agenda for the week.  He knows he needs to hit some of the classes that he has been neglecting.  By that I mean there are subjects that he had not begun to catch up.  We have a plan though.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

OK, maybe not Tiffany's.  At the Hop.  The Brant Rock Hop to be precise.  I will take another win.  I took both boys out for breakfast this morning.  And I got them both to go to Colony Place in Plymouth.  The draw was helping to pick out a new TV for the living room.  I couldn't get Coco out of the car and into Best Buy.  But I still chalk it up as a win.
     Caz actually was eager to help.  He was even more eager to help pick out a PC.  He really wanted to strip down the old one for spare parts.  He is building his own computer.  I am very supportive of the project.  I like that he is interested in creating something like that on his own.  Maybe it's the start of a budding career.  Who knows?  I only think it can help him in the long run.

Coco Goes to the Movies

Another weekend win!  I got Coco out of the house on a weekend.  Another big step towards recovery.  Sure, it sounds innocuous enough, just going to a movie.  But that is a big deal.  We almost didn't make it.  I had been playing with him all morning, and asked if we could have some Father/Son Fun time.  He said sure.  Of course, we had been trying the previous two weekends and failed.  But he was playing along this time.  I asked him if he wanted to know where we were going or be surprised.  He wanted to be surprised.  But Demi, trying to help, almost blew it.  She was right out of a bad movie.  After her first gaff, she kept on going.  Every two minutes it was a question nor statement about our destination.  Coco started tensing up.  He said his stomach hurt and just laid on the couch, while he was supposed to be getting ready.  I thought for sure we were doomed.  But I picked him up playfully and joked about dropping him on his head.  As soon as he laughed, I knew I had him.  So off we went to see The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies.  I got him a ginger ale that was large enough to last a week.  He crushed it and then had to pee halfway into the movie.  We made it all the way through.  I pushed my luck and tried to get him to go for new shoes.  No die there.  But hey, we were out of the house for 3 hours.  Huge step.  

Drive

It's official.  Caz is now signed up for Driver's Ed.  We had a quick talk about a few local programs.  When it came time to decide, Caz decided he did't want to pay the difference ($200) between the tow program through the school and the private local class.  Good call.  I know the teacher in the local program.  He was my high school head football coach.  Great guy.  He's been teaching Driver's Ed for decades.  Caz should be in good hands.  I can't believe the time has come.  But it surely has.

Streaking in the Quad

We have a legitimate streak.  All 5 days to school.  Coco was a champ.  We almost had a doubleheader on Friday.  He did go to lunch.  Extra time there.  That is a big step.  He knows he needs to up his game next week.  He is already prepared.  We are very proud of him.  I think he is proud of himself too.  That is more important.  He needs to win his inner battle with himself.  This is a great sign that progress is being made.

Back in The Saddle Again

Tally today in the win column.  Coco was back to school for a class.  Not only that but he took a test. He got a 100%.  I guess he really was studying his Latin.  They had a contest in class too.  He took first place.  The top 3 finishers were all of Asian decent coincidentally.  Just your fun fact for the day.
     I Was remiss in my post yesterday.  I forgot to mention that Caz had a big adolescent milestone e past weekend.  Apparently, he has made friends at work.  Older friends. Friends that can drive.  Yep. He went out after work with his pals, up to Derby Street to hit Chipotle.  Demi and I had a long talk with hi m before hand.  We talked about a curfew.  We talked about wearing a seatbelt.  Then we talked about making good decisions.  We talked about our Safe Ride program.  We stold him that even one drink can't impair a driver, especially a young driver.  He can call us with no yelling.  No questions asked.  We will even meet him down the street.  He seemed to get it.  Sure, we got a brush off.  We can only hope he was listening.  But he was home, safe and sound, at 9:30.

Waiting on Week 2

Sunday is football day right?  Well, the Pats played last night.  Even with some good playoff match-ups on, football is in the backseat.  It's the anticipation of the coming week.  Coco has been surly all weekend.  To both of us.  He tensed up the AM, at the mere mention of school tomorrow.  We dropped that topic.
     He is spending some time with his buddies.  That is a good thing.  He needs to socialize.  He is too isolated these days.  The sound of laughter is much welcomed today.  I hope it lasts.

Friday Fun Day

Dad's turn today.  Coco has been on school duty all week.  She's done a great job.  Today, its my day to get Coco to school.  The pressure is on.  I have not been Coco's favorite person lately.  He doesn't have a lot of patience for Dad these days. I think he know's that I will stand firm.  I will push him outside his comfort zone a bit.  I think we have to in order to have him make progress.
     All in all, it was a successful day.  I got both the boys to school.  Caz almost had Coco go on the bus.  For a moment, there was a glimmer.  Maybe the bus is not that far away then.  Coco also spent a lot of time on homework today.  He spent all afternoon at it.  Sure, he could have been browsing the web some.  But he knows we check.  He has to produce some results.  More progress though.
   

Stepping Back

There was bound to be hiccups along the way.  Right?  We were prepared.  Two day in a row was a good streak.  Coco is experiencing some acid reflux.  Actually, it's more that some.  It's pretty bad heart burn.  So he got a day to gather himself.  He deserves that right?  Demi already set expectations that tomorrow is back to school.  She was fair but firm.

One Giant Step for Chinkind

Coco went to school today.  He went in for Latin class.  He proved as good as his word.  He also took a quiz.  That means he was doing his homework.  A good sign.  He didn't seem to have any ill effects.  He actually seems in good spirits.
     Demi was a trooper.  She did a lot of organizing to make this happen.  Of course school is the priority.  But it certainly is not easy.  She was really nervous about being strong enough to get Coco to school.  I never doubted her for a second.

One step forward

Well, the good news is that Coco is acknowledging that he needs to go to school on Monday.  He seems to deem it a certainty  Of course, he's done this in the past too and ended up not going  But something seems different this time.  I am hopeful that it is.  I would very much like to see him making progress.  And so now, it is a waiting game.

Happy New Year 2015

Well, it's a new year.  It's supposed to be a time filled with hope.  It's a time filled with anticipation of what the new year will bring.  I'm going to try and go with that theme.  With all the chaos surrounding our lives at the moment  I am going to try to be more diligent in posting.  I think it helps me too.  Putting thoughts into words has a calming effect.  So may your year be filled with health, happiness and success, and let's see where this goes.