This blog was initially set up as a means of communicating with my son's team. Since then, I've heard from other parents with similar stories. If you are living with challenges or journeying alongside someone who is, you are not alone. There are many of us. I'm a single adoptive Mom (http://richesofsimplicity.blogspot.com/) of a young man who lives with many abilities and many diagnoses. We have journeyed together through many challenges and a few adventures over the years as my son has tried to find space in this world that makes him feel more comfortable, an attempt made especially difficult when living with Attachment Disorder, PDD-NOS (Autism), Developmental Coordination Disorder, ADHD, prenatal substance exposure, etc. Some of the strongest elements used in this journey have been music, visual arts, therapeutic parenting, team-connection, boundary-setting, boundary-setting, boundary-setting, communication skills, community-building, continual lifeskills training, and elements of Theraplay. (Click here for some written resources.) On this journey, there is laughter and tears and growth and hope. The greatest of these is hope.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Ways to Get Out of Doing a Chore

This is in no particular order. Mix and match as you see fit!

-Whine


-Make a foghorn sound. Loudly. And repeatedly.

-Make comments such as, "Other kids don't have to do chores!" and "I hate you!" and "If I don't get this done you're going to make me not have time to get my stuff ready for school and then I won't be able to go to school because of you"

-If you have a mom like mine and she tells you that whining is not acceptable in her home and you can either stop whining or take the whining outside, then take it outside. Whine louder. If there are other people nearby, they might hear you and rescue you from having to do chores or deal with your whining.

-If you're not up to whining or verbal barrage for whatever reason, do whatever might get you sent to your room, no holds barred, so you can just relax in your room instead of doing your chore. If this creates other problems for you, blame others, particularly your mom. And when the chore is still there the next day plus you have another chore for that day, just work on getting sent to your room again.

-If all of the above do not work at getting you out of a chore, then appear to go along with doing the chore. Don't actually do the chore, just go through the motions/sounds or just do bits of the chore but not the entire chore. And always take your time; the more you practice, the sooner you'll be able to drag out one chore for the bulk of an evening. See the above note on getting sent to your room.

-Get rid of rags and cleaning supplies that are necessary in order to do said chore

-For those of you with particularly good skills in certain areas, hiding food in the cupboards and drawers within reaching distance from the sink while you are taking your time "doing dishes" provides a nice diversion

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