Running off

[joybed]

Hi not been posting for a while have been reading but not posting. Things have been calm here for a change or maybe i have just accepted the way our life is now and chosen to think more positively about things.

However Piers has become like forest gump (he ran and he ran and he ran). He runs everywhere to school, in the street whilst shopping. He has no regard for road safety and just runs across them like they don,t exist. This is made worse by the fact that Lydia is a very laid back little girl who likes to take her time so she dawdles to school as she doesn,t really want to go and finds everything else so much more fascinating. It is a relatively safe journey to school until you get to school where there is a lollipop lady she intercepts Piers every morning and waits for me to catch up with Lydia. She doesn,t have a problem with this. Once we have crossed the road he again runs off into school and off to play.

This morning his teacher stopped me and said they were concerned about Piers coming to class on his own and said they have had a discussion about his running off all the time. The office staff have complained saying I allow Piers to come into school on his own and they are concerned for his safety. I explained to his teacher that no matter how i play it i will leave a 5 year old unnatended and her response was that I need to stop him running off as it is not safe. She has made me feel like a substandard parent who doesn,t look after her children properly. I can see it from there point of view but I have tried everything I can think off to make Piers walk with me and not run off. We have tried reward charts, social stories, drawings of what would happen if he was hit by a car, discussed stranger danger and the importance of staying with me, we have even tried a wrist strap but he tantrums and refuses to walk, also this makes him different to his school friends.. None of it sinks in he just laughs and runs off. Lydia is fed up of hearing how we must walk faster as Piers is running of and walks all the more slowly. I think school are being a bit unrealistic, Piers and Lydia are in different classes and while i am seeing her into class he runs off but then school complain that i am not waiting to get him into class when the bell goes how can i be in 2 places at once. I can,t take Piers first as Lydia,s classroom door is locked if she doesn,t go in with the rest of the class. Often Piers is asked to go to the office despite the fact it is about 30 seconds after the bell has gone and his LSA opens the door to tell me to take him to the office he then gets a late mark and is unsettled all morning. I have discussed this with them and they said they have to set an example. Any ideas.

[justine1]

Hi

I know exactly what you going through Sam is the same and he is fast

The other day he was upset and I told him we would discuss it when we got home,next thing I know he has run away in the opposite direction,I was pushing a double buggy up a hill so I had to put the breaks on and leave my 18mth old asleep in the buggy and then chase after Sam.He was of course severly punnished and said softly "I will never do that again."

 

tHE SCHOOL THING IS TRICKY my boys HT has agreed that they can come into and and go out my eldest sons classroom as its easier for them and me.This worked really well.Worth trying.

[julie1]

we had this with our second child and different approaches were needed along with her interest changes.

we use a magnifying glass for a while so she could study bugs on the way to school. we used road signs for a while she had to stop at each one and read the letters to me, we used scates she was so bad at that and it really slowed her down. singing songs all the way, saying times tables all the way. we even use to look at the numbers on peoples door and i would ask her to guess what the number would be 3 house up so she would only run to that house. Anyway just incase there were some ideas i thought it might help to give aa few. If all else failed the strap went on which she deciced she loved as she could pretend to be a horse, only i hated it as it made people look at us in the playground and give there little comments on how my daughter was out of control.

[got the tshirt]

I had this with Dd3 although luckily the others were older and I could focus on her. She was on reigns till nearly 4. I had to put them on before I opened the front doo or she would leg it off down the road, or across it!!. She is 7 now and loads better although I still don't trust her to stop when I tell her to. We practise stopping really quickly. She thinks it's a game though. She absolutly hates holding hands. I get funny looks off people when we cross the road and I am holding her arm or sleeve and she is tugging away [ but I don't care anymore LOL].

I really feel for you with your twins and think the school need to get their head out of the clouds and help you. Couldn't a TA meet him at the door or something. When Dd3 hated going in the line the TA used to wait by the door and take her in last. I am sure there must be a way to solve this, they need to realise that it is not as simple as just telling him not too run off. He is very little still.