By invitation only

Matthew has been a wee bit challenging lately.  Last Monday he was . . . a whole lot challenging and I was despairing.  I think there are a lot of factors at play -- sleep, food, getting dragged to big brother's activities, general being-three-ness.  But I decided that there were a few things I could do to make things a little better.

One of those things was creating a space for Matthew.  Cameron has a small room we call the Lego room, which has a desk for working at and floor space for impressive Lego construction.  But Matthew didn't really have any place to call his own.  So on Tuesday I announced that Matthew would have an area of the living room all to himself.  With great fanfare, I brought up a small table and chairs from the basement and Matthew helped me scrub it off.  Matthew selected a corner and, with a bit of rearranging, his spot was established.  "This is where I do my homework," he announced quite pompously.  "Where's my Scooby Doo coloring book?"

When Cameron got home from school, Matthew and I showed him Matthew's area.  "Cameron," I said, "this is MATTHEW'S area.  You are not allowed in this area unless Matthew invites you."

Cameron said, "What?  The whole living room?"

"No," I said, sweeping a hand in a broad circle around the little table.  "This is Matthew's area."

"Soooo," said Cameron, "can I do this?"  He stuck a toe inside the imaginary circle.

"Not unless Matthew invites you," I replied.

"Matthew," said Cameron, "I would like to work with you at your table.  Can I come in your area?"

"Hmmm," answered Matthew.  "No, I don't think so."

Matthew has taken great pleasure over the last few days in going to his own area.  And then, tonight, I was making dinner when Cameron and Matthew came running into the kitchen.  "Matthew invited me to his area!" shouted Cameron.

"We're going to eat dinner at my table," announced Matthew.  "I told Cameron, he can eat at my table with me."

So the boys took their dinner to Matthew's table and David and I enjoyed our Aloo Partha just the two of us.

Loving Matthew's area.