"Id rather be in school than on summer vacation" with tears

[imgoingtodisney]

oh man this is not getting off to a good start

I told DS to read for a while today - he started 3rd Harry Potter a few days ago w/cassette
Then I told him when I get home from work tonight he can go for a 15min walk w/me
And the tears start!

Ya know for the next 2wks while Im at work this kid will be staying home. I really dont want him in the house the entire time watching tv which he would do.

Am I being a bad/mean mother?

 

[ChiTownZee]

Is he crying because he's bored or that you're going to work or that you wanted him to take a walk? What does he want to do?

How old is he?

 

[hercamore]

I'd give him a list of chores to do each day while I was gone.

Isn't he an ll yo? There are many chores a preteen could do around the house by himself.

I'd probably give him extra allowance as an incentive.

herc.

 

[aahmom1]

Is he upset because you're leaving him home alone, or because you want him to take a walk with you.

 

[peg2001]

If he's upset to be home alone all day, you need to make other arrangements. Does he have any friends with a stay-at-home parent that would be willing to have him over? Are there any day camps/activities/bible camp that would keep him occupied?

If he's crying because he doesn't want to walk or read, just watch TV and play video games, then you are right to be tough!

Peggy

 

[imgoingtodisney]

Hes in a bad mood cos I want him to read & take a walk

I asked him if he wants to come to work w/me and he's said no. He could go into he story hr room and watch a movie, play on the computer, and sometimes his school friends stop here to get their summer reading books, etc. He told me he'd rather be home.

I do have him signed up for 3wks of Nature's Classroom camp. Asked if he wanted to do a 4th wk and he said no.

Ive already told him summer will start off slow then get busy July 3rd. Its ending slow too right after Aug 19th. He'll have about 2wks at the end to himself.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Is there any other kind of long term project that he might be interested in --

building a model car
working on a photo album/essay from his last trip

maybe he could work on some kind of project with the computer --

Visual Basic programming is pretty easy to do. My 12yo son has been writing programs on it for a couple of years and he loves to play around.

There are lots of things other than reading and watching tv. He just needs to find a hobby and develop it.

 

[gepetto]

Maybe you could buy him a Playstation 2 or something. Does he like video games?

 

[CamColt]

I just dragged my 6 yo out on a 3 mile walk with me. I got the "I wish I was in school" a couple times but I kept telling him we are in training for Disney World.

 

[Lucky4me]

Leaving an 11 yo home alone for a full day is asking for trouble, even if only for a week or two. I'd bring him to work with me if I were you. Tell him you'll pay him to be your helper and give him a few bucks a day. That would be so much better than wondering what he's doing all day. You can only monitor so much by phone. When boredom strikes, so does trouble.

 

[SeaSpray]

Today was my DS12's first day of summer vacation.... Know where he was at 9am this morning? The oral surgeon's office! He needed to have 4 teeth pulled before he could get braces on later this summer. Originally this was scheduled for mid-August, but then I realized that it would be on his mind ALL summer long, so I was able to reschedule it for this morning, and now it's all over and off his mind. He's doing fine, we were home by 10am, and he slept for 2 hours and says he doesn't need anything for the pain. He's had soup and 2 bowls of ice cream already. Tonight will be scrambled eggs, nice and soft for him to chew.

Barb: I agree with the poster who said to give your DS a short list of things to do each day. Not too much, and mix in some fun things along with a couple of jobs for him to do. And if you could give him an extra couple of $$ for the jobs, that'd be even more an incentive for him.

Good luck!