No, it bloody wasn’t. And frankly I am so TIRED of repeating this exercise that my head starts to rotate at the mere thought of having to do it again. 3 mornings out of every 5, Damien and I have a discussion slash argument slash debate slash screaming match, and it could be any one of these (or a combination of them all) on any day of the week depending on what the topic is. At night, before bedtime, he’s supposed to put out his uniform for the following day, pack his school bag (and I must check and sign his homework diary) as well as pick up his dirty washing and put away the clean stuff. His new sticker chart only has six items on for each day specifically to be manageable. If his uniform isn’t laid out he spends an extra 10 minutes looking his shirt, or his shoes, or clean socks. If his bag isn’t packed he runs late because he cannot pack his bags AND get dressed in one morning- if he has to do one he forgets about the other. Then there’s the breakfast discussion slash argument (etc) because he says I make too much for him, or he wants syrup toast instead of porridge, or he daydreams instead of eating his breakfast, and then all but explodes when I remind him to eat. Then there’s the tuck money topic. He asks for money almost daily- but with his sticker chart he earns money for each sticker and on a Friday he gets whatever he’s made for the week. When I say no, he sulks- or points out to me that “*everyone else gets money nearly everyday*” I try not to rise to that particular challenge. If I point out that he’ll get money for his stickers on Friday he wants to have a canary about how little he’s going to get because he hasn’t earned all of them everyday- like that’s my fault! This is usually when I leave the room before I detonate. I loathe sending him to school miserable, so we kiss each other good bye and say “I love you” when he walks out the door- but you can SO see and hear that he’s sulking!