| |
follow through - it’s so hard to do!
Our son was difficult to get out of bed in the morning, he frequently fell back to sleep after being awakened for school. He was about 7 years old. I would have to wake him repeatedly - - - nothing seemed to work. Finally I told him that I was only going to wake him up once and if he wasn’t up and ready to go to school on time he would be left behind. We talked about how important it was for him to get up and be ready for school. He agreed that it was his responsibility to get up so he would not be late for school or make me late for work because of his tardiness. We agreed that he would get up the first time I woke him up and that I would not repeatedly call him. Well, it worked fine for several weeks. Then one morning I called him and he answered but as I heard no movement after awhile, I found he had gone back to bed and was asleep. I moved around the house slamming doors and banging pots and pans and generally making as much noise as I could - - but it did not wake him up. At last I couldn’t wait any longer and started the car, rived the engine and backed out of the garage. As I stopped the car in the driveway, the house door flew open and out ran my son. He still had his pajama tops on, shoes with one sock, hair uncombed, and hanging on to his lunch pail, in short a complete mess. I told him to shut the front door - - - and off to school we went. When I let him out at school and drove away I saw him standing by the flagpole looking bewildered - - - I was in tears, sobbing all the way to work. But I knew I needed to follow through, I had to help him deal with his actions and their consequences. Not long after I arrived at work the principal of the school phoned. She had my son’s teacher in her office. They said they had noticed my son’s unusual appearance and wondered if anything was wrong. I told her the story. They said they understood and fully supported me. Well, our son is now 31 years old and in all those years we have never had to call him more than once in the morning.
|
|
