the chickens' schoolyear, but because it has been a busy one so far,
I blinked and now almost a month has gone by since they started. Better late than never, however. =)
School for Forrest has gotten off to a great start so far! He has entered the 8th grade, and I can't help but remember the hell and confusion I was going through back when I was his age (which seems like such an eternity ago). He seems to have finally found his rhythm at the close of his junior high years, having weathered a rather bumpy transition from elementary school two years ago (the school system here starts Junior High with the 6th grade, like many others across the country), and his grades are better than they've historically been. I'm hoping this change will stick just in time for his move to East High School, where Nathan graduated from, in the fall next year.
Forrest is not really doing anything extra-curricular this year, instead expressing the desire to stay focused on his school work, and I suppose given the tough time he's had managing his school workload in the past that this is a good thing. I'm also quite pleased he hasn't started dating anyone yet as he's quite blunt about not wanting to explore any of that just now either, so Nathan and I are breathing sighs of relief we get to put all that mess off for another year at least. ;)
The big change for Forrest was he had bracesapplied to his top row of teeth right at the end of the summer. We were all a bit nervous about it, but he actually looks great in them! He'll get the bottom row done in November after those teeth have spaced out a bit more. In his spare time, he still loves skateboarding (though these days he favors his Razor scooter; picture above - isn't he something???), messing about on the new computer we bought the boys for their room as a back-to-school surprise, watching programs on the Science and the Discovery channels, and sometimes reading if he's found a book he particularly enjoys. It's really exciting to see him becoming so enthusiastic about science and nature and learning in general! I'm very proud of how well he's doing in school this term so far.
Jerrod is starting the fourth grade this year, and trying once again to have it all -- he's in intermediate band and still playing the trumpet two mornings a week before school, taking a digital photography class once a week, and a computer class twice a week, both after school. He also has real homework this year, where in years past he was given a couple of assignments and a week to do it. Now, he's required to turn in something every day except Friday. Guess he'd better get used to that now so it won't be such a rough adjustment later!
Jerrod isn't getting braces - yet. His dentist says he'll need them soon, though. Lucky us! =) In this picture, Jerrod is wearing one of his favorite school outfits, new this year. We'll transition to colder-weather clothes once it's officially winter, but for now he loves to wear skinny pants that are popular with the skater crowd whenever it isn't too hot out. I snapped this one in the gated parking area for our loft community; Jerrod wanted something 'industrial.' =) Like the view of our city alley? ;)
When Jerrod isn't studying, reading, playing the trumpet, or playing with Tech Decks, he's zapping space creatures or smashing LEGO characters on the Play Station 3 gaming system we bought last Fall; Jerrod's current favorite games are 'Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty' (pirate's booty, but I fear the double entendre is intentional although the game has a rating of E for Everyone), and 'LEGO Batman: The Videogame.' He also enjoys the other two LEGO games, 'Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures' and 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga,' as well as 'Uncharted: Drake's Fortune' and 'The Orange Box' games. They have several others, but those are the top six. Here's a photo of Jerrod catching some pretty decent air as he skates with his in-lines. :) Both the boys are quite athletic; I wish I had been at their age -- it would've saved me so much heartache in school. ;) Oh, well...
Jerrod just celebrated his tenth birthday last weekend, and we threw him a big birthday bash with several of his classmates followed by a sleepover with a few of his best buds. We hosted the party at Steve's Snappin' Dogs, a gourmet hot dog stand we're lucky enough to have here in Denver. The theme of Jerrod's party was 'Rockstar,' and so guests were encouraged to come dressed as their favorite icon. Thank goodness Spirit Halloween Store was open this time of year!! We even made CDs containing 10 (+ 1 bonus track to grow on) of Jerrod's favorite rock songs as a party favor for guests.
Adding to the glamor, Jerrod was lucky enough to have his birthday party booked the same day Steve planned to have a commercial filmed about his restaurant, and so they filmed the commercial around Jerrod's party and we'll all be airing (locally, of course) on The Cartoon Network and ESPN (funny but appropriate mix of target audiences). =) If I somehow manage to come by a copy, I'll post it here, but in the mean time enjoy the slide show of some snaps from the party by clicking on THIS (for some dumb reason, I couldn't get the vid to upload to this blog even though it meets all the requirements; whateva)! :) That one was for you, Mother. Yeah, that's right, even my Mother laid a 'what-ev-a' on me on the telephone the other day! Blew my mind! And, she did it perfectly! Anyhow, I think the boys look very intimidating in their costumes, but they loved it! I'm glad they don't look like that all the time. ;) Nathan and I luckily stayed mostly out of the photos although we did dress up, but I think I snuck into a shot. See if you can spot me! The party was a blast, and hopefully it did something to help Jerrod edge toward the limelight of his elementary school's highly competitive social scene. ;)
Switching topics, we've made some changes in how we handle discipline at home this year. Previously, the chickens were randomly 'punished' with a variety of restrictions, groundings, time-outs, and loss of privileges, and these 'punishments' would snowball depending on how much the offending chicken had messed up, how often they had been messing up as of late, and whether or not we felt there was a chance they would mess up in the future. OK, I'm kidding about that last bit. Anyhow, this process wasn't really working for our family, leaving the chickens frustrated because they never knew whether we would let them eat cake or death instead, and us frustrated at having to come up with more imaginative and bizarre punishments such as the time last summer we hung Forrest upside down by his toenails and forced him to smoke a carrot. Yeah, kidding about that one too. My point is discipline was very slap-dash for us, and this year we finally got organized. I developed a performance chart that was tied to what the chickens love best - no, not money -- MEDIA TIME! Yes, now their beloved enjoyment of all media ranging from recreational television programs like 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody' to playing 'Oblivion' on the PS3 or 'The Sims 2' on their new computer is tied to
whether or not they have earned enough behavioral points the previous week to qualify.
They earn points based on a variety of categories such as school behavior, home behavior, chore effort and completion, etc. They have up to a total of seven earnable points on weekdays and six on weekends, and must achieve a total of 41 points or more each week to qualify for media time the following week. This chart has really worked well, putting the power of choice in the chickens' hands, and consequently leaving them no one but themselves to blame if they don't qualify. They have access to the performance chart, built with Microsoft Excel, via their computer (it's stored on our wireless network drive along with all our music and photographs; we went with the Apple Timecapsule) so they can see throughout the week how they're doing and any areas they need to improve in as scoring time draws nigh. One on one in a private conference, I tally the points for each of them every day before bedtime, and on Sunday evenings we count up the total points for the week. Nathan and I are thrilled this method of tracking their behavior rewards them, inspires them to achieve performance goals, and keeps them informed of not only what is expected of them but also how they are progressing in 24-hour segments. They are also able to view their overall performance to date on a bar graph, as well as see which weeks they qualified and what their total points for any given week were.
In addition to the performance chart, we have a system of doling out consequence for more serious rule infractions like dishonesty. I learned about this system last fall at a parenting seminar put on by Forrest's middle school PTA. Nathan and I put our heads together and came up with a set of six consequences we both agreed were fair as a result of such infractions. We purchased a colorful large six-sided die, and when one of the boys breaks a more serious rule, they have to 'Roll for a Consequence.' The number they roll corresponds with one of the six consequences Nathan and I cooked up. You'll notice I'm avoiding labeling them as 'punishments' because we're trying to drive home the lesson that there is no action without consequence, advice I learned in this seminar I mentioned.
The consequences equate to things like loss of media time for 24 hours, loss of just telephone privileges for 24 hours, having their next social engagement cancelled, and my favorite, the sneak. We actually have funny names for all the consequences, and I'm including a snap of the sign I made to remind them of what potential consequences for infractions are. As you can see, the sneak equals having to sit through a Disney movie or few of my choosing (this was especially effective during the summer break), and while this might sound like a treat for some of you, the boys particularly loathe some of the older Disney films which are my favorites, like 'Alice In Wonderland,' 'Cinderella' the original animated '101 Dalmatians,' and the like. I'm not really sure why they don't like these films, but suspect they secretly do deep down and are refusing to admit it, or else that these films are so quaint to them and completely out of touch with the more modern Disney films like 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' At any rate, groans always ensue when they roll a consequence and hit a sneak, which means they know they'll soon be suffering through scenes like this one. =) Well, we couldn't come up with a sixth consequence and were trying to be creative! What else can I say?
As we prepare to move towards the holiday season, which means we'll all be busier, hopefully happier, and probably a tad heavier owing to the yummy comfort food this season of hearth and home always brings, I wanted to take a moment and give you a snippet of a few of the details that make up the lives of our favorite chickens, and consequently of my life as well. I hope you enjoyed it. =)
Posts
