Turnaround !

This is the process after implementing the rewards chart to date : 

Day 1 (Tue): he seemed excited , he talked a lot about the dos and don'ts (he even asked Ah Po to cook broccoli , peas and carrot every day so he can earn the veggie stars. However, it's all talk but no action

Day 2 and 3: still a slow start but starting to earn the peeing and pooing stars 

Day 4: brought him out for dinner to change the diet and hope he's more inspired to eat on his own.  And it succeeded. We had a smooth and fuss free meal of soup , garlic bread, pork chop and fries.

Day 5: Ah Pa brought him to universal studio but he didn't understand why he's going so soon because that was supposed to be the reward after earning 30 stars. Well, that's the reason why I was dissuading Ah Pa from choosing that place but Ah Pa wanted to spend some quality time with him and so they went. Good thing was that he was on his best behaviour the whole day. Ate well and did the toilet thing well too. 

Day 6: went out for a piece of cake at Lady M as he has earned his first ten stars. However, due to a misunderstanding , I had eaten his remaining half piece of cake before he came back and he was upset. Thankfully it blew over soon. Then we went to eat Haidilao hotpot at his request - he wanted to go to the playground.

He was mostly playing on his own for the initial part of it until another boy sat on "his" soft toy. Cayen tried to push him away but the 5 year old boy wouldn't budge as he felt that he had come first ( not his fault as it wasn't that obvious Cayen was playing with both the toys). Both of them started shoving and I had to break up the fight. 

However, later on , the same  5 year old boy called Roy came over with a piece of lego as an olive branch. I quickly used the chance to tell Cayen that Gege is sharing with him and they should play together and they did. They played buying:selling things for a while before adjourning to the computer game. 

Once again, both wanted to play and the situation was made complicated as a third big boy wanted to play too and he was quite tough and pushy about it. He didn't want to take a turn. As the third boy tried to push Cayen away, Roy stepped out to Cayen's defence (I'm impressed by his loyalty) and pushed the other boy back. 

At this juncture, I stepped in to mediate again and told them to all take a turn .. And after I repeated myself firmly two times, and showed them that they could all take turns and choose their own games, they all calmed down and followed suit. 

While this was not a textbook sharing example, it's a big step for me as I was able to successfully show Cayen in a real environment how to share and take turns and make friends , to reinforce what we read in books. Naturally I rewarded him with a sharing sticker when we return. 

Day 7 (today): he woke up on his own at 7.30am and declared that he didn't want to be late (hasn't happened for a month already). Next, he was super good in school and even helped his teachers and friends. After school, he walked on his own when playing Pokemon. He also finished his dinner, brushed his teeth and used the potty. He even performed his concert song for me. Pretty much the best day in weeks! 

Incidentally , I had also bought him a muffin since I accidentally ate half his cake (that he earned using ten stars) and he was mightily pleased with the reward. So I took the chance to drive home the message on the reward system which I think is finally gaining real traction. Hope the good behaviour can continue. Fingers crossed.