Stressful morning! Just about anything that it is possible for a child to do to annoy his parents on a morning when they are both preoccupied with a last minute tidy up was done in our house this morning. This involved a lot of sulking, moaning, stomping about, refusing to co-operate & finally spilling orange juice over his shirt, his homework & some important papers of Dad's. So what was it all about? He didn't want to do his homework. He has lots of homework this week. Why has he got lots of homework this week? Because one of the other mums complained they weren't getting enough! Don't know which one it was, perhaps just as well, though I do have my suspicions...
Particularly irritating factors about all this are:
1) He spends about ten times as much energy in complaining about doing homework than he would in just doing it.
2) He says there's no point in writing out spellings five times because he already knows them & then he gets some of them wrong.
3) He says it's all my fault as I could write a note asking for him to be excused from doing it. Like what am I supposed to put? 'Can J be excused from his homework because he doesn't feel like doing it'?
Anyway whatever the 'Positive Parenting Brigade' might say the only thing that works in this instance is yelling: 'JUST GET ON WITH IT!'

Arrived home with fridge last night to find P's Dad also just arriving home. Also found ambulance had sunk up to its axles in mud. Just as well P has a digger. Managed to pull it out just in time to go to Parents' evening which went ok. Teacher said he was very pleased with J & hopefully will get extra time for him in his SATs & he is also going to get some more help from a teaching assistant. Troublesome boy is going to be moved so he no longer sits next to J (which is just as well as he pinched him yesterday). Teacher wants children to inform him of all negative incidents which happen with this boy as they are trying to sort situation out. Boy obviously has some sort of major problem, not sure what it is exactly but I can't help feeling sorry for him & his parents.

I have a bit of a problem right now as car mechanic has picked up car to take it for MOT & I haven't yet been able to get hold of anyone to pick up J for me.