what would YOU do for a klondike bar?

so. i have a problem. see, my oldest spawn is smart. i know...all together...POOR NANA. but seriously. he's smart. like wicked smart. like he really needs to be a lawyer because he can argue his way out of ANYTHING. he would make the supreme court look like a bunch of arguing toddlers...oh...wait...hmm...maybe not the best example...anywho. he's wicked smart. over the top jimmy neutron brain smart. and why is this a problem? i'm smart too after all...but...shhh...if you tell him i said this i will bust your knee caps: i'm not as smart as him. i can't keep up with all his arguments, and how he remembers things, and how he can think of excuses. because while i'm smart too: i'm busy! there's life, and another spawn, and work, and a million other things, and the oldest spawn knows this. AND HE USES IT.

so...how smart is he? well, he's in this special school. for smart kids. he had to take a test and be recommended by his teachers to get into this school. it's a school of ALL smart kids. and he's STILL bored. i've never once seen him do homework or study something and he's still getting 3/4 grades (on a 4 point system). he can figure out almost anything after just a few minutes. he's freaking wicked smart. which is making him LAZY. and by LAZY i mean he won't do a damn thing EVER and throws a complete temper tantrum if i make him. and if you know me, you know i don't tolerate tantrums in my house...but what this kid does is something even beyond tantrums.

the last time he was really in trouble at school i took away tv, the ds and went the extra step of taking away his art work. sounds odd, but it's what he LOVES. he has often been in trouble at school for drawing in class, he loves making his own shirts, the kid is an art freak. so, what better way to get his attention than take away the most important thing? holy. epic. meltdown. screaming, crying, literally pulling his hair out. telling me he had no other way to express himself besides his artwork and i was destroying him by taking it away. (drama queen much?). but, i stood my ground and the art work was gone until all his homework was caught up and his school work was being turned again (hard to do, but i refuse to give in to drama tantrums).

well, here we are again. last night he had a report due for school (deadline is this wednesday). he asked if he could use my laptop to type up the paper. i asked to see his rough draft first. he didn't have one. so i told him he needed to write one out before he would be allowed to type it. and so the battle began. I DON'T NEED TO WRITE ONE. I GET THREES AND FOURS THE WAY IT IS. told him i don't care what grade he gets, i want to see effort in his work. if it's so easy, he should be able to get all fours without a problem. and around it went. it actually ended pretty quickly because there's no point in arguing with an 11 year old until i'm in tears (lesson learned the HARD way. plus, i don't have the greatest temper control). i went to do dishes and the rest of the house went quiet. i assumed (bad) that he had gone to bed. it's a small apartment: two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen. that's it, and i didn't see him anywhere. i finished the dishes, did my work out, and in the middle of step aerobics out he crawls from behind the couch where he hid so he could play his ds and NOT write his rough draft. at this point it's an hour after his bedtime. "well, there's no clock back there". REALLY? i should have known to put a clock BEHIND THE COUCH...silly me. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? it's a good thing i was well into my aerobics and didn't want to stop. oh. my. FURIOUS. so he S.L.O.W.L.Y. went to bed (push a few more buttons kid...see what happens) and i have spent the last...oh...14 hours completely frustrated and out of ideas. before school today i told him i WILL see a rough draft tonight. he is grounded indefinitely from the game boy and tv, and i'm thinking of taking away the art supplies again. HE NEEDS TO DO HIS SCHOOL WORK. but doesn't need to because it's so easy for him. i have books at home with current events and last time around i tried making him pick out one of the articles and writing two pages about it, but after about 10 battles on writing a report vs. copying out of the book i gave up (bad mommy, i know).

i just don't know what to do with him. he is not motivated AT ALL to do ANYTHING. i've tried grounding, taking things away, adding extra work, using chores/school work to earn wii time, i just don't know what to do. he's fine and dandy from the school's point of view because he's getting ok grades, but NOT FINE from my view because he's putting in NO effort. he's too smart for his own britches. damn my good genetics! sheesh.

apparently the answer to the question: what would you do for a klondike bar in OUR house is: wait til mom is completely worn down, then just take it. don't earn it, don't work for it. just wait it out.