Don't you love the smell of RAIN??

I do. I actually like to sit out on my terrace when it rains. The sound and smell of rain really calms me. As it is...I am actually out here...blogging away with a hot cup of tea by my side. But somehow, the rain is just slightly more than a drizzle. It is quite of a contradiction here... on one hand, I love the smell and sound of the rain. At the same time, if I am out...as in NOT at home, the rain can really be a real nuisance....causing all the havoc on the streets - the traffic jams, the potential floods and whatever... In this traffic choked city, once it rains, it is chaos!

Okay. Now to digress. Remember the EPISODE that I had with my children? Well, I went to have a chat with the Special Needs Teacher at their school. She listened and gave some advice. Basically...

1) Stop nagging, as it's not working.

2) Using questions, rather than stating what they should be doing.

3) Have a Family Meeting with the boys and discuss our feelings

4) Be firm and consistent.

5) Home Timetable for the Boys (made by boys, and agreed by mommy)

6) Mommy's List - A list of things that will make mommy happy.

7) Rewards/Privileges when the Mommy List is met

8) Praise. Be more positive rather than negative all the time.

I agreed that I have been rather negative in my communication with my boys. Of late, I seldom praise them and have been just voicing out what they have NOT done right. I do not acknowledge the positive things. She said that a child's listening attention span is approximately (10+their age) Minutes, i.e. For S1, it should be about 23 minutes. And if my communication with him is always NEGATIVE, he is more likely to tune off faster.

The other thing is being firm and consistent. I always GIVE In after awhile. So the boys see me as giving empty threats. So once I've taken away privileges, I have to stick to it. Cannot be a SOFTY!

I've already had the "meeting" with the boys. They've come up with a rough time-table which did include homework and stuff. But S1 put in 1.5 hours of TV time each day. We negotiated it to be 45 minutes, but this TV time is only allowable when the Mommy List is fulfilled. Well, unfortunately, TV time was not allowed yesterday as S1 did not put away his homework properly NOR shutdown the computer after he's completed his HW.

She said that we have to encourage the kids to learn SELF-REGULATION, and not tell them what they should do etc etc. And one thing that mothers should NOT do is pack their children's school bags! Which I don't.

Aiya... rain has totally stopped. But I supposed it is good in a way. At least, my clothes can dry out in the sun.

Anyway, S2's 10th birthday is coming up soon. Will have a sleepover in our house on Saturday. But need to "shoo" the kids off at 8 AM on Sunday, as S2 has a kick-off at 9 AM.

No lah. The non-footballers can sleep-in and have their parents come pick them up at a more decent time. He has invited 6 kids....and 4 are footballers. One have said that he will come but will not sleepover. So basically 5 kids for sleepover (plus 2 - my boys lah!). Didn't really plan for this party, so did not really decide on a theme nor print out any Pinata Samples from the net. So when I went to see the Pinata Man, I have NO idea what to order. But he had some ready-made ones....there was a red car, a football, a couple of weird spaceships, Nemo, flowers and donno what. Rather than ordering, I just bought the ready-made FOOTBALL. What else? Considering football is S2's current preoccupation. Furthermore, he will have a football match THIS Saturday, as well as Sunday....football BEFORE and AFTER the party.

Okay. Later...