CootieGirl decided she didn’t want to go to school this morning. Just like she didn’t want to do her homework last night. It has been a rough 24 hours since Denis left for his conference in Vegas.
The night started off well – she told me she got a green star (the highest rank she can earn at kindergarten). And CootieBoy stayed in “sunny.” So I told her that after dinner and finishing her homework we’d do something fun. She promptly got to work on her homework while I fixed dinner. But after a couple minutes she petered out and stopped doing it (it was just just COLORING, so I don’t know why she balked). I warned her we wouldn’t play any games if she didn’t do her homework, to which she replied, “I want to go to bed.”
Calling her bluff, I sent her up to her room. Well, she was having none of that. *lol* I sent her up anyway, telling her that if she didn’t want to do her homework she could go to bed and do her homework in the morning. I left her upstairs and came back down to CB, who was just finishing his dinner, which he had been eating while CG did her homework. I turned on the TV and we started playing Lego Star Wars, which was his reward for staying on “sunny” at school (we only play the Wii when he stays on sunny now – if he’s ever on cloudy or stormy we do not play at all – the Wii is now a REWARD ONLY). After a few minutes I heard CG call out, “Mama? I’m sorry for not doing my homework. May I come down and finish it?”
I paused the game and met her at the bottom of the stairs where I thanked her for apologizing and gave her a hug. She promptly sat back down at the table and finished her homework. I then reheated her dinner which she scarfed down. By then, because of her long protesting earlier in the evening, it was time for bed. But I let her stay up a few more minutes and then I sent them both to bed.
This morning she woke up on her own and I found her at the top of the steps when I came upstairs to wake her up. She immediately began fussing and causing problems getting ready for school. In the end, we left the house late because of her theatrics and refusal to get dressed. As I drove her to school, I told her that her behavior was unacceptable and would not be tolerated tomorrow morning.
I know it’s because she misses her dad, who is the one that normally helps her get ready for school in the morning. But that doesn’t make it any easier to accept.