The Hug Bandit

No one but me may have this problem but I had to blog about a success! 

I have a student this year who is extremely, severely, powerfully,  intensely, excessively, and VERY ADHD.  He's honestly the Energizer bunny and like he's had 10 cups of coffee and a six pack of energy drinks...ALL...DAY...LONG..  He wears me out!

Of course he doesn't have any meds which is a whole other long and makes-me-want-to-bang-my-head-against-the-wall story.  Which I won't get into...{smiles}

He's mine for this year, and he needs my love most of all my kids in my class.  He seems to think he can get out of his seat as many times as he wants (even during spelling tests) as long as he is coming to HUG me.

I call him the Hug Bandit.  It makes me feel like an ogre when I'm fussing at him for hugging me.  I know he needs it.  But I just can't allow him to constantly be up out of his seat.  Monday he tried to hugged me 37 times.  I counted.  Seriously..37.

So I came up with this little management plan.  He has a Hug Bank.  I put 5 magnet shapes right by his seat and told him that he can give me 5 hugs today.  

We talked about how he needs to space them out and plan them so he doesn't run out.  He used up 2 in the first hour of school.  When I showed him that he only had 3 left to last the rest of the DAY, it finally started to register.  He used the others after lunch and tried to give me 2 more later.  I just said "Oops, sorry!  Your hug bank is empty."  He laughed and sat down quickly and never got up again!

Oh my stars, y'all!!  It WORKED!  I wanted to dance and sing when the day was over! 

He was so excited when he found out this morning that he gets 5 more today.  He used one right away and then another 30 minutes later.  I reminded him that he only has 3 more for the whole day.  He looked up at me with these big brown eyes as he hugged me and said, "That's okay..I just really need one right now. I love you."  Melt.my.heart! 

So if you have a hug bandit like I do, give this a try!