Square One

The monster was an absolute terror today: I lost count of the stairwell time-outs I dragged him to. (We don't do time-out in the classroom because he likes it and will refuse to leave the corner. He just loves corners.) From amusing correction of my pronunciation, he has quickly progressed to refusing to accept that we say 'square' instead of 'scare', or 'A B Cs' instead of the 'RAY B Cs'. (I blame the British English on those videos for the second one - I sure as hell don't have a 'linking-r' in my accent!) This kind of point-blank defiance is funny when aimed at my boss, but mostly because it's so exhausting to deal with it everyday. I definitely reached the end of my tether today, and I've lost the will to summon up a 'nice teacher' for him. We've tried cajoling, and bribing, and distracting, and scolding, and time-outs in 3 different locations. We've tried worksheets and videos and stickers and threats. We've let him cry it out and sulk it out and exhaust himself in the gym. We've taken him for walks around the school like a puppy when he pretends to fall asleep. I've yelled, I've mocked, I've joked, I've begged. I'm all out of patience. I hear that his parents are strict with him, but I don't see any improvement in this child. Other than his English. If any bright sparks out there know how to deal with a child who does not give a crap about punishment, please give me a shout. Because I am fresh out of ideas.

But on the other plus side, I've been cycling to work along the beach. Buddha's birthday is coming up soon, so they've put up tunnels of red and yellow lanterns along the sidewalk and I defy anyone to go through without smiling. It's just so cheery and warm and fluttery! It's hard to stay stressed when your daily commute includes beach-lantern-tunnels.