Daniel has been screen-free for five days now. His badgering for screen time has decreased and his attitude over all has been much better. His naughtiness peaked on Tuesday while shopping; he said he was going to shoot an arrow through my head if I didn't let him play video games when we got home! Daniel is so bright that I know that every image from Zelda and every bit of dialogue from Sponge Bob is etched permanently in his brain. I'm making a huge effort diminish its effects on his personality now that the insanity of Heidi seems to be over. But how do I plant the ideas of a good character in his head without him wanting to do the exact opposite?
I'm hoping through casual story-time. I've pulled out our copy of The Children's Book of Virtues and when the timing seems right and Daniel is receptive (a few planets need to align for this), I quickly read a story. Yesterday, when Daniel came in with a cut finger and claimed an ant bit him, I read the story of George Washington and the cherry tree (minus the spanking part). After the story I asked him again about his finger. He again insisted it was an ant and not the broken glass I knew it really was. We still have some work to do...
This morning we read the story of Saint George and the Dragon. He really loved that story! I could totally see the valiant knight in him puffing up in indignation over the fair maiden going out to meet the dragon. He got pretty excited when Saint George pulled out his sword and ran it down the dragon's throat, just as the dragon was going to swallow Saint George and his horse. He did ask to watch a dragon movie afterward, but he didn't throw a fit when I said no. Instead he came up to the school room and drew and labeled some pictures (I helped with spelling). A spider, an ant, and an ant stuck in a spider web. A psychologist wouldn't worry about retirement with this kid!
