I'm not sure I'm going to survive 3 teenagers--and the twins are still only 11! But they have been giving me a run for my money this week, the likes of which I haven't seen since they were toddlers.
Apparently, TT and SS decided they didn't have to do homework anymore. I discovered this when I learned they were both failing math. This was something of a shock since all of my kids are typically straight-A students.
A call to the math teacher revealed that they hadn't been turning in any of their work. And once I started digging, I learned that this wasn't limited to math--they had missing papers in all of their classes. The math teacher was just the first to update their grades.
So we have spent every night this week doing makeup work. They are turning everything bit of their previously-skipped work in to their teachers, whether they can still get credit for it or not.
And they're on Amish house arrest. I've confiscated their iPods and their laptops* and locked down the television. The only thing I left them was their phones, because we don't have a landline and need to be able to get in touch with them.
The twins haven't been big texters, but apparently some of their friends just got phones and the texting has escalated. I got online today and saw that they have been texting nonstop this week--while they're grounded from everything else and long after bedtime.
So, I figured out how to activate the parental controls for their phones. I can now restrict what hours they are allowed to text, and exempt our immediate family and emergency contacts from the restrictions.
It is a lot of work staying a step ahead of them. And the biggest problem with the twins is that they have no currency. No matter what I take away from them, they will adapt. They are perfectly content to draw and read now that all of their electronic accoutrements are gone--and will spend hours at the table doodling instead of doing their homework.
Anyway, I am now all over the homework issue, so there will be no more slacking there. And they will remain technology-free until they have at least a B in math. But this week has royally sucked between all of the makeup work and teacher conferences and discipline. What happened to my sweet little girls who were always model students?
3 comments:
Oh, man! They are starting early with the drama! But I have to say that I'm totally relieved that those measures are available to restrict the phones.
(I read this post to M out loud, who was laughing the entire time. Not because it's funny -- although your write up of it is! -- but because we completely visualize being in exact same position in the next six years.)
Oh god. This is my future. I may need to go ahead and check into the psych ward now as a preventative measure.
Yeah, we have been facing some of this with Pumpkinhead and he's only 9. He likes to spend time on his computer and will do the homework, go over it with me and then "forget" to turn it in. So frustrating! He also looked at some disturbing images on his father's smartphone internet browser while trying to search for something innocent. That made me immediately throw up parental controls on his own cell phone (which he has to call his father, or me, but is not a smartphone). I also refined the computer controls. We have locks on time and content. Seems like the motto we need to stick by is trust... but verify (and often!) Hope things get better at your house.
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