Z came back from his grandmothers' and...I think , in a small way at least, he learnt his lesson. He has been noticeably easier to deal with, more polite, even thoughtful (god forbid!). A little metaphysical 'spell making' and placing it under his bed unbeknowns to him seems like a desperate ploy but hey - anything with a bit of a postive charge might help. The 'spell' suggests that he will become more and more thoughtful and amicable with each day that goes past. Its written on a piece of paper folded up inside a dvd-rom case containing 4000 digital classics of literature and under his matress.be interested to see if he has epic mind expanding dreams...Z has just also arrived back from one of this country's best known young adult camps - not quite military school - but still a character building exercise - that is the 'spirit of new zealand' - used to be 'spirit of adventure' - a team-work based sailing course, with a competition aspect to it, out in the hauraki gulf - running the ship, sailing it, cleaning it, landing it, nightwatch, trust exercises, loads of responsibility, up at 6am and jump into the sea etc etc. So, I get the feeling hes got alot out of that too. Allbeit subconsciously..So, things are good. He's finding his footing. Back to high school tomorrow. He's still asking for lots of things - clothes, boundaries extended, his mum is trying to get him to work hard this year. Z is convinced hes no good at all thing scholastic - as is typical with kids with dyslexia - he also mildly suffers from poor concentration. The school must see some potential with Z casue hes in the 'brainy' class yet again.
Thanks all for your comments and will write back in soon.