
Where to start?
Mason has always been ... shall I say, a wild one. He has always been on the hyper side and he has always been impulsive. He definitely has a lot of great days, but some of these hyper/impulsive behaviors are beginning to interfere with his functioning.
Let me give you a little history ...
Shortly before his second birthday, we moved him into his big boy bed ... and a new bedroom. In order to coerce him to stay in his new bed , we got him a little DVD player and let him watch one episode of cartoons before bed.
Why did we do this? I have
no idea. Actually, I do have an idea. He was the worst sleeper
ever. He rarely slept through the night and he hated his crib with a passion. A little DVD action was sure to keep him in his bed ... right?
Well ... turns out the DVD player was quite possibly the worst decision we ever made.
Ever. Big surprise, huh? It was keeping him awake later than he should have been and the tantrums over him wanting another episode became more frequent.
So we took it away. Just like that. Mean parents, I know.
Actually ...
smart parents.
It helped. He began getting the sleep he needed and his behavior improved. Imagine
that!
Moving on ...
It was also around that time that I started researching artificial coloring in food and how it
affects behavior in children. I was serious about it and decided to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning at the grocery store studying labels and finding alternative foods.
When I say it worked, I mean
it worked. It was amazing to see the difference in Mason's behavior, especially after taking Red out of his diet. The only color we had a little trouble completely eliminating was Yellow ... macaroni and cheese has Yellow in it and getting rid of macaroni and cheese would have caused more behavior problems than the Yellow would have caused. I tried buying the gourmet stuff, but he would have no part of it.
Red is the biggest culprit, so that is the one we focused on the most. And we continue to do so. If I tell Mason that he can't have something because it has color in it, he understands completely what I'm talking about.
Moving on ...
Back in September 2008, Mason started preschool in a more structured preschool setting than he had been in previously. Since then, he has struggled a little bit with impulsiveness and appropriate behavior. These behaviors are come and go ... but like I said earlier, they are interfering with his functioning.
For example ...
- He does very well when it comes to structured classroom activity. The minute circle time or free play comes around, he has a hard time controlling himself. He seems to think he is the class clown and he has a hard time keeping his hands to himself.
- His mouth has gotten a little out of hand. He often says things to get a rise out of his friends. For example, last week when one of his teachers told him and a friend to stop whatever antics they were up to, he said, "Whatever." And then he laughed. Seriously? I don't think he would have reacted that way if his friend hadn't been involved, but it doesn't really matter ... he still did it.
- In the beginning of the year, he had problems when it came to bathroom time. He thought being in the bathroom with his friends was hysterical and he often said inappropriate things, like talking about his "wee-nut"
{don't ask} or his friend's underwear. Sigh. I was flabbergasted because we don't exactly talk like that here at home. So again, I think it was all about him trying to get a rise out of his friends. As a result of his bathroom antics, he was forced to use the bathroom separate from his classmates. I do believe his behavior improved regarding this and come to think of it, I'm not sure if he has been permitted to rejoin his classmates yet or not.
Anyway ... Mason's teacher, Kyle and I have talked to him and worked with him and talked to him some more when he has behavioral problems. He seems to make positive changes ... and then suddenly we are back to square one. We have taken away his TV, his Nintendo DS and other special privileges. Sometimes I think he really thinks it is all a joke.

A couple months ago, I made a sticker chart for him at home. Whenever he listened well or was good at school, he would get a sticker. As soon as he earned 10 stickers, we would take him to buy a small toy. It really helped him ... for awhile. Granted, it sort of became old news after awhile.
Moving on ...
I spoke with Mason's teacher last week and was informed that Mason was still having troubles on occasion at school. His teacher started giving the kids stamps on their hands at the end of the day if they had a good day ... and that helped him ... for a few days.
All of this is combined with the fact that he is a bit behind in learning his numbers and his alphabet ... depending on who you ask. If you ask me, now that he is five, he should know his alphabet by sight ... and he doesn't ... he still struggles with some letters. He also should be able to count to 100 or more ... and he can't. He can't seem to grasp the concept of counting by tens, nor does he completely understand that it goes 71, 72, 73, 74, etc ... the same as 1, 2, 3, 4 ... just add the seventy!
But I digress, the learning aspect is separate from his behavior ... actually it most likely is related, but in my mind I'm treating it separately.
Moving on ...

So our newest attempt to rectify his behavior is to use this daily chart at school. His teacher is on board with this and I am hoping he strives to get his stickers every day. We are only two days in and as you can see, he missed two stickers on day two. He did awesome on day one, but day two was a little different ...
I also am going to be doing something similar here at home. Some categories I am thinking of include ...
- Brushed teeth and got dressed timely after he was asked {it is battle every day and it could go on for an hour}
- Got all five stickers at school
- Followed directions at home and acted in a respectful manner
If he does the things listed in each category, he will get a sticker in that category. At the end of each day, he will get a dollar if he got all of his stickers for the day. If he didn't, then he gets nothing. I guess I'm still trying to determine if this is the best way to approach it.
My biggest questions all along have been
... Is this a boy thing? Does he have hyperactivity disorder? Attention deficit disorder? His pediatrician thinks it is a boy thing ... and I'm honestly not sure. Despite the picture this might paint, he really is a great kid ... he just has these quirks that come and go ... and I'm not sure I have the answers any more.