I am highly considering a time line/list to help us get ready in the morning. Mornings are frustrating for me and my 8 year old. I know lists can be a great thing for many people, but I am a little concerned that it may backfire on me. (sectioned plates backfired on me! oh my goodness.) My child has OCD tendencies, and I am concerned that he will become overly dependent on a list/ time line.
Why I think this may backfire on us: Let me share our experience with sectioned plates. My child does not like his food to touch, and would not allow more than one thing on his plate at a time. So he would eat it all, then I would give him something else. I decided to try sectioned plates with him. He LOVES his sectioned plate, BUT it has backfired on us. If we go back to a single plate he wants a new plate for each item or for me to wash it between items (I have refused to do this, and he just says "ok, I think I am finished eating then.") He still only wants one thing on the sectioned plate at a time, but now insists on a separate eating utensil for each section on the plate.
We are now taking steps to counter this from getting worse. I have talked to him and we have compromised to an extent. I understand about not wanting food to touch, it makes me shudder inside when something wet leaks over to something else on my plate that it would not normally go with. The compromise is that he may keep his sectioned plate, but must use the same utensil for each section. He is allowed to lick it completely clean and use his napkin to dry it off after he is finished with one item, but is NOT allowed a new utensil. He must also allow me to put, and I agreed to be VERY careful not to drop things into another section, everything he plans to eat in the meal on his plate at one time into their respective sections.
The neurologist believes that we should just get rid of the sectioned plate completely.
I guess I would like suggestions as to what to put on our list, and what to leave out. my idea is:
7:45-8:00 get up and start breakfast (child's name: Medicine)
8:10: We should be getting washed up and brush our teeth
8:20: Find our clothes and put them on:
*Take off dirty clothes
*put on clean underwear
*put on clean pants
*put on clean shirt
*put on clean socks
*pick up all your dirty clothes and put them in to the dirty clothes basket
*check hair in the bathroom mirror
8:30: Shoes, coat, (and hat if we need it today)
8:32: Bookbag and head out to wait for the bus
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
anyone have suggestions for my list? (and yes, I feel that I have to specify put on CLEAN x, because I can't tell you how many times he has stripped down and put the same clothes back on, and we have to restart the whole thing.
01 Apr 2008, 8:39 am
