Those of you who WERE dreamy children ...

[Bink]

... can you remember what used to wake you up/bring you out of your dreams/get you to focus?

My ds (who's nearly seven) is having yet another week in outer space - dreamy and distracted and vague and unproductive and unco-operative at school (unco-operative more because he spaces what's expected of him than because he's being oppositional, which he isn't really) - and, though it sounds like a minor problem, when it's constant like this it's really exhausting for everyone, the teachers, the other kids, us.

He wakes up for maths (sometimes), piano, and novelty - like a school trip to the library. What used to wake you up, and do you have a sense of how, or why?

Bink! Are you still on Mumsnet? I know I'm 2 years delayed, but I'm DYING to hear how your ds has progressed? Hopefully you'll see this, or someone will tell you. What a fantastic thread and a huge help to a fellow mummy-of-a-dreamer. My DD (8) is very bright, and imaginitive. Full of spectacular vocabulary and general knowledge, but put a pencil in her hand, and she has trouble writing one word and staying focused on the task in hand. I am at my wits end and looked up a thread - and got this one. It's been a great eye-opener, but I would love to hear other peoples' experiences and any update you have.

Hello! Yes I am indeed still on MN and indeed still going on about dreamers

This is probably my favourite MN-thread-I-started - the consistency of the picture that adolescence is when dreamers wake up - & that so many delightful people (ie posters on here) were dreamers.

There is another, rather mammoth & encyclopaedic thread, here as well. You are so not alone!

As a summary, though - ds (9 in April, now) is still dreamy enough to walk into lamp-posts when in his world, and still distractible and disorganised enough to not fit the mould for the academic sort of school he'd otherwise belong in - but we (and the specialist school he's at) feel on balance he's "with us" (as opposed to on his planet) more often than he's not - which is an improvement on where we were when I started this thread. He can just about stay on task to get through a thank-you letter ... and recently he's become really genuinely interested in what other people think - probably the most promising thing so far.

I'm so glad this thread was revived! I found it fascinating. I fall completely into this 'type' - and I didn't realise there were other people like me. I know there was plenty of reassurance on the thread, but if you want more, Bink, I have done very well academically when it mattered. I did no work in school until the last two years - I was constantly in trouble for not handing in assignments or not doing homework. I used to sit in my room pretending to homework till 5 when my mother let me go outside (she thought she was being strict about homework) where I would daydream till dinner. But, as I say, I worked in the last two years and finished high school in the top 1% of my state. I drifted again in the first years of university but pulled myself together in the last few (6 year degree - fault of degree, not me) to graduate 6th out of 300 law students. I still daydreamed but I became more disciplined about it - I would put aside an hour a day in my study timetable for it.

I still havn't improved much, the good thing is I'm not often bored My 6 year old has always been off on some secret mission to outer space, only he knows what's going on in his head. The only thing I can think of to do is teach the importance of listening, he keeps missing instructions at school. He has mild hearing loss atm which doesn't help matters. His teacher tries to keep him near the front and draws attention to certain times when she's really needs them to pay attention.

He drive me nuts on a daily basis tho LOL Fennel I used to be a spy, one stage I wore boots with special weapons in the sole ;)

Bink - just read this thread for the first time - yet more lawyers mentioned !!
[dreamy children - I blame the parents]

Bink I have also just read this thread and wanted to say what a lovely mum you sound like. I was just like your son, and school and parents made me feel like a total failure/idiot for it. It is wonderful that you accept and support your son exactly the way he is.

Like Tryingtoleave I was constantly in trouble for not doing homework or forgetting all about it etc etc, but have ended up with a degree and a PhD, so I must have done something good somewhere.

its so nice to read of so many others like me! I spent my childhood either in Fairyland or off on adventures. I find it really hard to focus at meetings or even just having conversations with people unless I have a pen in my hand taking notes. even then I usually end up with elaborate doodles rather than meaningful comments
dh often finds me sat on the bed half dressed staring out into space or absent mindedly chewing on my toothbrush at the sink.

dd is exactly the same as me. I can see her at school sitting at the back with a far away look on her face clearly elsewhere. Fortunately she is bright so only a few key words need to trickle into her consciousness for her to understand what to do. Getting her out of the house for school is a nightmare - I'm constantly saying - 'you've 10 mins before we have to be out.' cue panicked look on face, she speeds up for oh, around 10 secs then slips straight back into a reverie. Drives me bonkers but she is so me. My poor Mum - she was type A and found me utterly utterly infuriating.