Monday, October 27, 2008

Grades

N finished his first junior high quarter on Friday. His grades were all As and one B. Fantastic! Last year his grades fell as he became ill with anorexia and he primarily got Fs. Those grades seem to correlate with his recovery. In May, I was already seeing him care more. It seems we've come full circle.

He is the kind of kid that is capable of getting all As. But actually, I'd rather he didn't. I feel like it would be better to have a no-stress, easy-breezy attitude about grades. Instead we've been working on turning in all of his assignments. He finally earned some incentive money these past two weeks for having everything turned in. In order to keep things low stress, but still have him working towards something, I rejected goal-plans that were punitive. It seems like a little bit of money was just the carrot he needed.

2 comments:

Ari J. Brattkus said...

Great news, Wendy! We are still in the thick of ed behavior and thoughts, although things are slowly getting better. D is gaining and eating all meals and snacks, but the ed behaviors are still there. School starting has been very stressful and it is so hard for me to know how hard to push my d to study and do her homework. I'm never sure if it is ed or just normal preteen stuff! Glad to hear your s is doing so well -- keep up the good work!

Wendy said...

I think one of the results of this whole experience is that I have changed as much as N has. I don't think I will ever push him again with his school work -- the stress just isn't worth it. I'm getting better at figuring out what is teen stuff and what is the anorexia -- but that's because I have long periods when I hardly see the anorexia at all. He still has ed behaviors, but his weight is good. Good luck with your daughter. I hope she continues to do better as well.