We have been struggling with teaching S to manage her time properly. She is a daydreamer, this girl. And likes to chat. Loves her little sister to bits too. So before you know it, a 15 minute homework has stretched to over 45 minutes because she was day dreaming and then started telling me about something funny that happened at school and HAD to respond to the sweet "didi, didi!" calls of her little monster sister.
I talked to her teacher about it and she reassured me that S is one of the most organized students she has. Always finishes her tasks on time. I think that is because there is no one nagging reminding her to hurry up every half hour. She knows she has to deliver and knows the consequences of not delivering. Well, it is definitely not the same at home so I have been wondering how to handle this.
There was a time when mornings in Kay household used to be scream fests. "BRUSH YOUR TEETH FAST!!", "HOW MUCH LONGER?", "GET OUT OF THE SHOWER NOW!!" etc. used to be the oft screamed sentences. Then I got a hold of myself one day and decided not to scream any more. I found that was more effective. Things got better for S' ears and my lungs. And mornings became kind of peaceful. Lately, the chaos has been returning slowly. S is taking longer in mornings. And takes forever to get ready for bed. Her official bed time is 9.30 pm. But she never manages to get in before 10. This irritates me no end. I give stern talkings to. I glare. I hiss. I pout. I sometimes yell too. Last night I got exasperated and decided to try out a new way.
S has been told that starting today, we will not remind her to do ANYTHING. She knows she has to do her homework and chores, and her bedtime is 9.30. If she gets to bed by that time, well and good. Otherwise she can get in bed at whatever time she does. We will wake her up at 7 every morning. And if she manages to get ready in time to catch the bus, I will drop her off at the bus stop. If not, she will miss school and stay home. I will do my job - wake her up, get lunch and dinner ready in time, get her to appointments and classes and love her. She will have to do her job - do her homework, chores and get to bed in time. If she can, very well. If not, we won't lose our patience at her or yell at her. We refuse to make her lack of time management skills our problem. Let's see how this goes.
Update: Day 1 - she got one reminder from me to look at the time. Got in bed by 9.45 pm, which wasn't bad but could have been better. But it was infinitely better because I didn't spend the evening hissing "Look at the time and hurry up!!" Day 2 - she caught the bus! With just one reminder from me to keep an eye on the time, she was ready in time. INFINITELY better since we didn't have to keep going to the stairs (she uses the bathroom upstairs) to ask her "HOW much longer?" :P We'll see how does the rest of the week go.
