Spring Break

My son celebrated the start of Spring Break by having Mom inflate 118 balloons. For you regular readers who have been paying attention, you know that there are 118 elements. After the balloons were inflated, Kai put the symbol and atomic number on each one, and then they started to create a periodic table out of the balloons.

With Spring Break going through the end of March and into the start of April, it’s a good time to take stock of Kai’s progress in school this month.

Sometimes it seems as if the only thing consistent about our son’s behavior at school is its inconsistency.

In January, he put together a whole month without having a major incident. But, just when we started to think that maybe, just maybe, he was able to control his behavior over a longer period, we had the terrible month of February where he had more incidents than ever before.

March turned out to be a bit of a mixture of the two previous months. There were more major incidents than we’d like, but fewer than in February. There were also some great days in which he was safe and earned high marks on his point sheet.

So, why this improvement from February?

I have no idea.

Maybe it is the power of NASCAR. We started a new incentive program in which he could earn miniature NASCAR diecast cars for good performance. He’s not so much into the cars, but the numbers on the cars are another story. He earned his first car, #48, very quickly. Then he lost a little interest and took longer to get the second car.

Perhaps the joy over discovering the periodic table kept him in more of a serene mood in school this month.

Whatever it is, we’re glad to see the improvement. Though it is frustrating that it is not consistent. And who knows if the trend will continue or reverse again.

But, we have no time to worry about that now. We have a balloon periodic table to complete. Oh no, I think I heard beryllium pop.