Life Skills

greetings

A few weeks back, I mentioned that I was looking into having JT take Spanish class through a local private Christian school. On Tuesday, we met with the school administrator. It looks like the plan is a definite possibility. We will be working out the details over the next few months, and if all goes well, JT will be taking Spanish class in the fall.

When I was getting ready for this meeting the day before, I started imagining JT meeting the administrator. I realized he may need a little prep work in order to know how to handle this bit of social maneuvering. JT practiced how to handle an introduction to a new adult by role-playing with his dad. Handshakes and eye contact were high on the list of practiced components. A lot of silliness happened that evening, but the main ideas were planted.

The whole thing made me start thinking of other aspects of life that we might want to start practicing with the boys, things like; shopping alone, banking, doing their own packing for vacations, asking for help from employees of stores or libraries or other public places, and finding their way in unfamiliar situations. I've seen the whole Free Range Kids idea, but that might be a little more than I'm ready to go for at this point. Right now I'd just like to know that if I asked my boys to go into a store and buy something, they wouldn't get lost trying to find their way back to the checkout. So that's something I want to start building into our regular outings - opportunities for the boys, especially JT at age 13, to start doing.

The meeting went very well. JT did exactly like he practiced. Handshakes for the beginning and end of our time with the administrator went well. And I know, in the blink of an eye, we'll be doing the same thing for college visits.