Progress. Are we really making progress?

I got home from work about 15 minutes past my usual time tonight. Not a bit deal, in the grand scheme of life, really, but we have pretty tight schedules three nights of the week - and tonight was one of them. The A-man had put the chicken in the oven like I had asked him to do, and when I arrived home, we had just enough time to eat, and then I had to dash off with the A-man to get him to Air Cadets. I left all the dishes on the table, and asked S to make sure everything got tidied up.

While I was leaving, I mentioned to S that I was going to do brief stop over at a friend's place. He asked if I could please make sure I was home by 7:45 as he had a detailed pie chart to complete for Geography, and he wanted me to be there to help him. Yes, he volunteered this information! He told me he had almost completed his haiku (a poem) and he knew what he was going to do to finish it. He assured me that it was on his laptop, and he would finish it while I was out.

When I got back home, the supper dishes were all put away - for the most part - and his haiku was done. He pulled out what he needed for the Geography, and he got to work on it right away. Of course, he didn't have all that he needed here at home, but since I am so annal about these things, I had all of what he needed - compass, protractor...those sorts of things. He did all of the required calculations, then proceeded to layout the chart to the degrees he had calculated. After much time at the new electric pencil sharpener, he started colouring his pie chart, and making the legend. I left him to finish it while I went to get the A-man from cadets. He had even printed his hiaku out without a reminder! (This is a very big step for a child with ADHD, let me tell you.)

While we were driving home from cadets, the A-man told me that he got 3.5 out of 4 on an in-class assignment in Geography. Second highest mark in the class, he claimed. He told me that a couple of his friends got marks like 1.5 and 1.8, and one got a zero because it wasn't complete, and was handed in two days late. The boy that got the 1.8 apparently said, "Oh, so close to a pass!" and the boy that got a zero has decided that he got this mark because the teacher has it in for him. Apparently the A-man told his friend that maybe if he did the work, he would get a better mark. The friend's retort could not be repeated to me, apparently. So, maybe, just maybe he is starting to 'get' it. Quite the change from the boy that got a 40% in Grade 7.

He has some Science prep to do for the lab they will complete tomorrow, but I am going to give him a bit of down time before I remind him of that. He really works hard at supressing his tics while he is at cadets, and needs about 20 minutes to work them all out when we get back home. It has taken me some time, but I am starting to better understand how this whole tourette thing works on him.

As I was tucking S in to bed, I asked him about the note in his agenda about the 12 line poem. I think he was avoiding that one. He has told me that it isn't due until Thursday, and I am not going to push him right now. It is his bed time, and sleep is more important. He can finish it tomorrow night.

I have a ton of membership drive details to finish tonight, and I am going to interview my first candiate for the assistant's job tomorrow. I have three scheduled for Thursday, and another two for Friday. Plus I will be training the new bookkeeper on Friday afternoon. Oh, and a dinner meeting on Thursday... geesh...is it any wonder that I'm tired? That said, I really should stop bloggging, and get to work on the other things that need to be done.

I will sign off with a copy of S's haiku. He has entitled it "The Ecosystem"

The ecosystem

And the whole environment

The earth we must save

written by S - son of Jori, aged 12.

I am very proud of him.