I find myself of late pondering the future ,not mine you understand but my sons ,having negotiated most of primary school with few incidents, my son is now in his last year. He will begin secondary in August of 2014. If I don't take him to the secondary he will have to get a bus .So we are going to have a few practice runs, where I will gradually introduce him to independent travel. First I think I will travel on the bus with him looking at the various landmarks,then he can do the trip himself. I remember myself at that age worrying when I was on the bus that I might miss my stop.So this is likely to be a very interesting time.

As I am a lone parent,( as we are now called officially ) and only work part time, I often think about, my son's ability to be independent. I would like very much to be able to work full time but this is not looking likely for at least the next year or so. At present on the school mornings,  although I do not have to dress him any more,  he takes a very long time to dress himself unless I am constantly encouraging him . To think of him doing this alone, because I would be starting work around 5 or 6 in the morning , is inconceivable to me. Preparing himself breakfast is another hurdle to overcome. The one constant in his behaviour is his habit of going off task. He has overcome so many things , he tries new foods, he is less afraid of cats and dogs , his writing improves on a weekly basis. But teaching him to concentrate on one thing and one thing only until that thing is done is proving to be very difficult.

It is not as if he does not have a sense of urgency, because he most definitely does. When there is something he is interested in, a new Dr Who, a new bop it toy, an opportunity to skype with his mum he is very motivated. But he can not seem to muster that motivation at will for some of the more mundane tasks in life. We are all of us after all doing something at some point in our days as an end to a means and the more mundane activities in life are  unavoidable , but sadly necessary.
I am at a loss as to how to convey to him that, his dressing slowly has a direct effect on what time he gets to school. Almost as if he see's the things he does as little play-lets, which he subsequently pigeon holes in a place in his brain .The more interesting play-lets he summons in to his mind at will when he is involved in a less interesting task, ie getting dressed for school. This can then lead to him laughing loudly with a look of satisfaction on his face."Why are you laughing " I will ask.
"I am laughing about "..................... and then he will relate something to me that may have happened weeks, months, or even years ago.

If he has a reason for anything that he is doing he does it with great focus, if he perceives what ever task he is on as important then the task gets done diligently. I am hoping that as he enters  puberty and starts to take more of an interest in his appearance (not just dressing up) perhaps then he will be more independent dressing himself in the morning. Only time will tell .