Focus

1Focus/'fo-kes/n. pl fo-ci/ 'fo-,si also-,ki/ (1644) 5 a : a center of activity, attraction or attention, b: a point of concentration.

Also: something my middle son has little of.

Alex has a hard time concentrating on what he's engaged in. Getting ready for school (a. get dressed, b. brush your teeth, c. pack your bag); getting ready for bed (a. put jammies on, b. brush your teeth, c. pick your book, and d. climb in bed). Pretty much anything that requires him to follow multiple steps of instruction, he breaks down at, like, the second step. Not that he's not smart (he is), not that he's ADD (he's not), he's just such a space cadet. When he can't remember what to do next he lies on the floor and rolls around, or I'll find him staring blankly into his sock drawer, not able to remember that I told him he needs socks.

Anyway, I tell him a lot "Focus, Alex- what do you need to do next?" at which point I repeat the steps that I've already repeated to him. "Focus, honey, focus." I try to be loving when I say it, but honestly, it doesn't always come out so lovingly.

Tonight, Evelyn was clomping around in my high heels on the kitchen floor, being purposefully loud as usual and Ethan, Alex and I were working on a jigsaw puzzle - the big kind.
Alex: "Evelyn, stop that! I can't focus!"
Evelyn: "What?"
Alex: "I can't focus, I can't concentrate on what I'm doing!"
Evelyn: "That's not what 'focus' means."
Alex: "Yes it is."
Evelyn: "No, 'focus' means that you can't put on your clothes."