Figuring it out

I think we're finally figuring out how to help Cam calm down. he's really good at doing things with motivation. So I figured out a new way to use our reward board in the kitchen. It was first used to help Cam earn TV time. Now it's just assumed that he has to get dressed, hold no tantrums and eat his dinner to earn TV time. So I added a new reward board to get him to Disney. But it didn't work really well. When we got back from our Florida trip, Cam told me he wanted to earn a trip to somewhere... So we decided on a place called Bonkers: It's a life-sized hamster run for kids. It's a loud place, but kids can really get some energy out there. I created a board where he had to earn smiley faces: 5 for being respectful, 5 for flushing (it's a skill he just hasn't picked up) and 5 for cleaning up. He was able to put that off in time for a trip to Bonkers today. And the greatest thing has come from this week. He's truly motivated. He starts into a rude or disrespectful behavior and he stops because he doesn't want to lose a smile. Even after the Bonkers trip, he flushed the toilet. He apologized for being rude. I think we may have broke through the bad attidude. And the basement is still clean. It helps that his Poppy built a massive toy bin to keep the kids' toys. The sad thing is it's full. It's very full.

I can only hope.

Cam has brought back the old afraid to be alone issue. I'm not sure why. He's also having some trouble being nice to his friends at school after his time away. His teacher says he's playing really well by himself, but when you add another person into the mix, Cam just can't share or be friendly. Hopefully he'll get over that soon.