Child Psychology

Rooohhh, herro there...

So, yesterday, I left work early enough so as to maximize on the time spent with Dan in revising for his second day of exams. Bam numero uno! Traffic heading to town - isn't that weird? I dunno what caused it, but there was as much traffic going to town as there was from town (that latter being expected daily). Despite this, I arrived to pick Dan up from at my Mom's early-ish. Bam numero dos!! There he is - among all nephews/baby-bro - watching a movie that they all wanted to see for so long... and it had just started! How dare I strip him away from that, right? I was also feeling a bit under the weather (please PLEEEEEEEZE be chickenpox!!), so there I was trying to nod off in the noise while sitting in a not-too-comfy chair. Eventually - when it finishes - we head to his mother's place to start the ball a-rolling. After a shower, we only had about 2 hours before his dad picks him back up! Darnnnn. In any event, we began...

... very smoothly too. We started with his favourite subject (and mine! Math!), so we were both in jovial moods. Yey. Then we got to something he didn't understand... I tried to explain it to him, but he was just not concentrating. Then I realised - duuuuuuuuuude - I didn't feed the child! Fadda Lawd. So, I got right on to my gourmet chefrus maximus role and prepared - ahem ahem - macaroni and cheese (from the box) with stewed chicken (from my mom) - *teehee*. He gobbled it up (little dude likes to eat - and any other thing that would assist in his beloved procrastination *sounds familiar?!*) - however, I still used this time to go over some concepts *what's wrong with me? Don't I get it?! The little dude's concentration lies in his stomach at the mo! Geez...* - this did NOT go down as well as the stew did. He just couldn't get anything that was coming out of my mouth... no matter how I broke it down. Know what happened? He just wasn't interested anymore - and we all know how difficult a barrier that is to cross! I got so irritated that I raised my voice just a bit - as if his not understanding had to do with some sort of hearing problem - whew. This just made things worse - perhaps by intimidating him and giving blows to his already shattered self-esteem. Holy Camoly... I was on a roll, wasn't I? After I went back into "nice" mode, he still refused to even look at me while I asked questions, gave examples of the answers, gave hints ... nada. He had... dum dum dummmm .... COMPLETELY locked me off!

All in all, this is basically how it went from there - yeah - though we had just under an hour left, we got NADA done... NADA. He cried, stared blankly into space and pouted... yet never said a word. No matter which approach I used - the ever so nice, the stern - heck, I even pulled the "Jesus is looking down on this" card. Nada still.

Know what I did here? I just sat him down, and - in a normal voice - went over ALL his work; basically, I preached to the little dude... "drop the 'e' before adding the suffix... double the last letter if the vowel sound is short then add '-ing'... 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' when the sound of the 'e' is long..." alles.... alles alles ALICE!

I just never gave in... no matter how much I wanted to. I let him know - hey, I ain't giving up, in, sideways, noways ... I'm sticking with you - even though both you and I want to.

That was one of the hardest things to do... but I did it.

We ended, he went to lay down before his daddy called to say he's on his way... he 'fell asleep' (or, rather, pretended to so as to avoid the tension... heck, I OWN that trick)... I woke him "Dan, daddy's here - *kiss* see you tomorrow". So he knows - yes, we are still on, and no, you didn't bother me (though it did, I couldn't let him know he has that power over moi).

Later, feeling the stress of it all come down on me, I went to my (other) sister's - she was just going through work with her son, Dav (same age, same school, same exam as his cousin - little dude, Dan), and there were so many similarities - however, their personalities still came through - Dav would kick and scream and cry and fuss... Dan would lock off and stare; Dav is certainly an extrovert while Dan is the opposite, dealing with things internally. They both had walls up to this horrid thing called schoolwork. Truth be told - I believe getting through to Dan, due to his personality, was 100 times more difficult than getting through to Dav; Dav wasn't shy about saying "I don't know! I don't understand this! I rather lie down - my head aches! *growl cry and grumble*". With Dav, we could talk things through.... with Dan... good luck getting over than high barrier he creates.

Child Psychologist - I give thee praise *and a couple Kalms for the nerves*.

You learn something from everything, right? What did I learn from all that? Lots of things... firstly, that to be regarded as more flexible and to keep myself open to really work things through, I should be more open and verbal and truthful about my current status on the given matter. I think it's win-win - benefits those who would have to work with you and also is self beneficial. People would also be less prone to give up on me...

...or is that so? Knowing Dan's potential also added to my continuous trying to get through - because when he does, he shines. It's as if through his introvert manner he meticulously processes stuff - just on his own time, and in his own way. Dav... he lays everything out there for you... and is heavily influenced by the external. You not only guide his thoughts, you also sometimes create it for him... he goes on what he hears/is taught. So, what you give in, you should expect to come right back out - that's "getting it" for him.

I dunno... I going on what I get from 2 9/10 year-old dudes here! Cut me some slack :P

Ok.... woof, I blabbed. *whosablabba? zusablabba!*




*Yes... stay tuned for another episode of The Adventures of ZuperZue - Teacher Edition*

Teacher for a day (or two)

Yep - that's right. It happened - I babysat/tutored my 9-year-old nephew this weekend - just as planned... though not really.

I forgot how short the attention-span and how great the determination of a young boy (all men?!) actually are...

Firstly, he refused to start - well, initially. I got so mad (distraught, rather) after I called him and asked if he was ready and he told me a blatant "No... I want to stay by Daddy...", went to my (other) sister's place and just relaxed, thinking to myself - whatever... I can't stress myself out right now... *I look for dat... I'm the adult - why would I ASK him what he wants to do?!?*
But I had to... I had promised my sister to take care of her baby, and I cared about my nephew's well-being. Also, I remembered that as a kid, it's sometimes hard to see soooo far into the future (i.e. a couple days is forever to the anxious little dude), and that I am the one who has the experience to know what must be done now and why (doing to consequences in the future - near and far). Now, I ain't the mom... but I have to play that - or whatever such time constraits permits - for a few days.

I called back the little dude...
"Dan... I will be picking you up early in the morning and we will start with Language Arts - first thing. Ok?"

Pause... no reply.

"Ok then, see you tomorrow, sweetie!"

Pause, no reply, dial tone.

I took charge. Good.

He was in a good mood and normal after his football practice - and after his (much needed) shower, we had a productive study session. Mind you, for about half hour each... the little dude needed several breaks - if not, he started to look like me in my worst interview (at CMMB) - blank, nodding, eyes as distant as ... as ... Germany.

Sunday was much better - we started with a great brunch (better, K? :P) at Vie de France, all the while going over his 7, 8 and 9 "times tables". The little dude got skills - mathematical ones, at that!

All in all.... I AIN'T READY FOR KIDS! That.... THAT... is the moral of my story!!! hehe... honestly though... whew! I guess, though, that it should be that I'm not ready to be a single parent. Perhaps. Then again... when ARE you gonna be ready for that kinda commitment? Hmm...

Anyways, I gots to get to training... also, later my little dude has another exam to prepare for... yey me.

*Zue ca-tooshes into the Training room - whosalosa? CD-Rom training's-alosa!!*

A a... like I went on blogging vacation?!

... ent?! Pressure...

World Cup fever persists - despite our being eliminated... but no one of us really expected us to win WC'06, right? We did much more than most though we could do! Well done, Soca Warriors! Two words... well, ok, more than two - Shaka and Carlos... outstanding! *Carlos, will you marry me?*

I felt a pang of jealousy and nostalgia watching the matches and the parades in the streets of Germany... and a tad angry too! Four years ago, when I decided to choose "that German school" instead of doing the conventional - i.e. heading to North American universities for further education - I was greeted with several remarks "Germa-who?", "Germa-where?", "Germa-why-girl?!", "Whey you goin' quite-o quite-o for?", "Honestly now... who even goes there anyways...", mostly said with this facial expression - a mixture of scorn, puzzlement, and ... something else. Now, just about everyone comes with smiles "Can you speak German?", "Aye... yuh ain't goin' back? I goin'?! Teach meh some German nah..."

I love you, Germany. I miss you... I miss our time - when it was ours. I wish I could turn back the clocks... I'd... I'd... fail a couple courses to stay a bit longer :P hehe... joking! But I'd definitely lived it up much more than I did... oi oi oi.

Is it too late? Germany... wilst thou consider the I an' I once again?

Soooooooo.... I am in the process of dropping out of that BEng. programme... yep. I'm a "college drop-out"... camoly! Though I stated to the Head of Department that I "couldn't continue with classes due to unforeseen circumstances"... this isn't entirely the full truth - though it is wholly true.
Yes... the circumstances were unforeseen... I got bored! This may come across as haughty -perhaps - however, other than the fact that the Math class pace was ... well ... ok, I've done most of the things they had to cover, and too... the instructor went so slowly! I was borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeedddd to the max! Chemistry was fine - not easy, and very interesting... and the other course was so so so disorganised and the instructor so full-of-it... and yuh know yuh girl and her gettin'-annoyed-ever-so-easily attitude already and how I turn to switch-off mode!

Truth is, as a friend and fellow (ex) classmate pointed out - it's a Bachelor's... i.e. the first year or two is gonna be more general and basic before specializing in the final year(s). And I believe therein lay the problem... I have already gone through the introductory phases... and I already have been down that "conditioning" road... now I want to specialize! Now... in what? That is another issue... but I do know that I am not willing to go through that again... not that it was hard or boring, but I deem it ...er... unnecessary. And, heck, it's gonna last 2.5 years!! Just a tad too long for something I am so uncertain about :)

Sooo.... other than that, I have rekindled my old flame - yes yes *sigh*... I am back in the gym. Yeah baby, yeah! *allyuh geh frighten eh? Taut I did get marrid? ent? hehe* If yuh see meh Tae-Boing yesterday... like a massah!

And big... no... HUGE plans for this weekend... get ready... ready? READY???? Dum dum dummmmmm.... I have to babysit and tutor my 9-year-old nephew ALL WEEKEND! Starting tonight!!! Whosalosa?! hehe... *allyuh geh frighten again eh?* My sister went to Jamaica with her luv-ah for a vacation and only realised that her son had his end-of-term tests next week... she called me on the brink of tears (she is so much like me... or the other way around... but anyways... in the sense that she detests asking favours of just about anyone and also hates leaving her kids - like everything she holds near and dear - and the responsibilities that go along with them in the hands of anyone), saying that she has the biggest favour that she could ever ask me... this time, I'm assuming it's to give her a huge sum of money to travel the world in search of her "calling", (ok not really), or (more likey - I thought) for me to make several trips around the country for... something. Who knows - she just made it to be such a big deal! When I heard it was to act as tutor and make sure her kid revises for his test... I laughed at her... she's so cute. He's my favourite (but shh.... don't tell the others!) nephew - and he knows it. I am ever so excited - mommy for a weekend! I'd let you know how that goes.

One other reason I didn't blog all these days... I have some pics I took from the match we watched (against England) - but my sister is yet to send them to me... and now that she is all high on Montego Bay, well, fat chance of that happening anytime soon *snickers*. I was also on TV!!!! After the match, the CNC (Cable News Network) interviewed both my sister and I on our post-match thoughts... I had a big red flag on my cheek and said something like:

No worries boys... it was a bit disappointing, and we did so well for most of it... no probs boys... no probs... we deserve being there, and we'd show it soon... we have one more to go... Paraguay - watch out!

Looking straight in the camera - like telling my opponent to "Bring it!" hehe... *oooooooooooh it's oooonnn!*

Oh gosh... like I making up for lost blogs! A a... ok ok... I'd go for now... Department going out for lunch today!

*Zue zooms outta blogger world, proud to have rekindled the ol' flame *of blogging!!! gotcha again, eh? hear nuh... presh-uh**