Sunday, January 27, 2008

Some Good, Some Not So Good

You know what they say about pride, and the subsequent fall. Just this week I post about how proud I am of my sons, and I even went so far as to say Alex had a "noble goal". Well, Friday Alex did a completely normal bit of bad behaviour, he decided to forge a note from me rather than get in trouble for not doing his homework. Of course he was caught. Of course he knows better. And now he is good and grounded for the week. Plus he had to write a letter of apology to the teacher and do extra chores.

We have never had to ground one of our sons like this. They've never done anything so serious. I'm learning that it is just as hard to be the grounder as it is to be the groundee. I keep feeling bad for him. There was a gloriously fresh snow fall on Saturday. Ordinarily, Alex would have spent his afternoon tobogganing, but he couldn't. I felt so sorry for him. But all, in all, he's doing his time with good grace.

On the other hand, I started a new obedience class for Dexter last week and I now have control over my dog. Dexter had a bad case of leash aggression. He was fine in the house, with the kids, at the dog park, but he'd bark and pull every time he saw another dog, person, baby buggy, squirrel, or anything at all. The instructor taught me how to correct him, once but firmly, so that he understands that his bad behaviour will not be tolerated any longer. I read Ceaser Milan's Be the Pack Leader and I now know what I was doing that contributed to his bad behaviour, so I'm changing my ways. I'm happier with Dexter and I think he's happier too. This is a big milestone for us.

One of the things I have to do differently is walk him hard, every day, no matter what. Our weather lately has been very cold, with lots of snow making it difficult to be motivated to walk. But I have and the result is that Dexter is tired out, but so am I. And my knitting has suffered. I just want something simple and soothing to work on after all that. Like socks:

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Schaefer Anne
Needles: 2mm

At least I'm getting good exercise. You've gotta take the good with the bad.

10 comments:

  1. I can completely understand the whole having to ground a child. Great news about Dexter!
    Those socks are absolutely beautiful, if you don't mind me asking, I really love the pattern you use for them, any chance of sharing?

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  2. Life is a process. Or something like that, :-)

    Great socks. Kinda stripy. Where have I seen that before? LOL! Wonderful jeansy colours. Yup, 2mm, 80 sts.

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  3. My kids haven't done that one yet, but my little one tried to put my scribble on his homework once. Unsuccessfully, I might say. I need to go to classes with my dog sometime too, but haven't found anybody yet and don't have the time, to be honest. Maybe when hubby comes back home. Hopefully.

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  4. Anonymous7:00 pm

    Well, hopefully this will be a lesson that is only needed once to be learned for your son.

    I love the socks. The color is beautiful and the pattern sets it off nicely.

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  5. Speaking from experience ;) we mean well when we do the little silly stunts that seem to get us in a MESS of trouble.....hopefully he was better at it than I was, I misspelled absent on mine DOH!!

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  6. The more his misses in the 1 week, the more he will learn his lesson. I always felt like "grounding" was hurting me too. But I got over it.

    I really love the color of your socks. I started a pair in a similar pattern as a matter of fact. Is that Eye of the Partridge heels?

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  7. Think of your socks as Dexter's treat to you after a long walk!

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  8. whoot! Glad you figured out the exercise thing. It's hard to keep it up all the time, but when you(me, all dog people) do, the difference is palatable! Good job lady!! (hand in there)

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  9. Oh, my. I forged my mom's signature so much that, when she did write me an excuse note, the school called and accused me of forgery for that one. They didn't recognize her actual signature =) Yeah, I got in a fair bit of trouble, too... poor littl guy, though. I hate when I have to punish my kids... Do you have a bunny, as well? Or is Dexter kissing an outside-the-house friend?

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  10. Anonymous11:36 am

    as they grow up I find it's 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Of course I think it's us that take the steps back when they take the step forward. How else would they grow to live in a world without us? I have two kids, both very well behaved and every time I bragged.. they stepped off the path into the unknown. Does not stop me from bragging, every step they take without me is a learning experience for us both, though I think we feel it longer. From everything I have read from you so far.. I started at the first and worked my way up to here, I see a patient and understanding woman who has the longest apron strings ever that she lets out as needed. Never cut those, no matter how old you are you always need your parents, even if only for an occassional pat of reassurance. My parents are both gone and I never missed them more than I do now that I can't just pick up a phone and call them. I think about them a lot, I think how they would react to something I have done and hope I still make them proud because sometimes I am not too proud of myself. But I know no matter what, they love me. I get the feeling that many many years from now your children will consider you the best friends they ever had.

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