Frustration

As some of you know, JD attends the early childhood special needs program in Carroll County. We had him tested in November of 2009 at the suggestion of his pediatrician. He wasn't talking and had virtually no communication skills. The testing showed his communication and verbal skill were at an 18 month level, but his understanding/cognitive (I think that's what it was called) were at a 48 month level. Since he started school in March of 2010, he's made great strides. In fact his speech teacher started off the her part of the last IEP meeting with "Wow! Just wow!" A few goals were changed and one of the things JD is working on in his IEP now is to follow through on difficult tasks. He gets extremely frustrated when he can't do something the first time or he doesn't like how he's done something. In the last few weeks, this frustration has come out as crying and I mean CRYING! He gets all worked up and starts coughing and it's hard to calm him down, so it goes on for 10, 15, 20 minutes. I have a feeling it may be due in part to the schedule change now that Reece is back to work. I now drop him off at grand mom's everyday on my way to work and she takes him to school. Another possibility is that he's really tired after he comes home from school and that makes things worse.

At home and in school, the message we're trying to get across is:
1) No one knows all the answers, so we do things like got to school and read books to learn.
2) It's okay to ask for help; everyone needs help now and then.
3) You need to try things more than once.

We've also been working on getting back to using the house rules that we came up with when Reece and I were taking the parenting workshop through Carrol County schools. We were doing really well, but have really fallen away from it. In addition to this, we've put a limit on the amount of time he can play on the Wii.

These are the rules:
1) Listen and answer
2) When you are done playing but your toys or books back where they came from.
3) When you are finished eating, plates and cups go on the kitchen counter and trash goes in the trashcan.
4) Use "excuse me" (i.e., if we're on the phone and he wants our attention)
5) Be a good friend to Bobo kitty

We've been telling him that if you break rules or misbehave, there are consequences. He got to see an example of breaking rules/consequences in the adult world on Monday...which provides me with another JD Gem to share. I got home and he says "Daddy broke a rule today!" I was thinking he was referring to the rules at school (they call them the cardinal rules, after the school mascot and his teacher said the kids might bust us parents for not following them at home). So I asked what rule and he says "The speeding one. That's what the policeman said." Reece walks in and JD goes "I toooold her. I told mommy." I laughed so hard. Luckily Reece only got a warning, but it sure provided a huge laugh for the day.