Last minute Lucy

[balzamico]

Dd leaves everything til the last
Minute, friends wait for her on the doorstep every morning as she gets her pe kit, water, shoes on etc. Our lovely home made Christmas card was completed at the time we said we'd exchange them.
If you suggest she completes or even starts homework due on Friday on Wednesday she looks at you as if you'd suggested flying to the moon!

Which brings me to the dilemma of her mocks in February- how on earth can we persuade her to start revising now?
We've had lots of talks about setting aside an hour a day for example, working out how many subjects she's got and how many hours each needs, she agrees with it all then does none of it.
It's incredibly frustrating - she's very bright and will do ok without revising but any suggestion that she could try harder/ do better is countered with accusations of unrealistic expectations.

Last minute is still on time, and if she's managing to do all she needs to do and get the results she expects then there's very little hope of you persuading her to do things differently.

My brain doesn't function under pressure, so I'm early for everything and prepare well in advance for things. I waste a lot of time in the process, but that's the price I pay for my way of working.

Is it GCSE mocks in Feb? If so you are probably right she will do OK if she’s bright, but it will get tougher with A levels.

It doesn’t sound like she’s worried herself yet, but as she moves into A levels her inability to get herself going might start to worry her because harder to busk it.

Basically I think she’ll have to crash or start to worry c crashing before you can get her to do anything c it.

To prep for that day, I would perhaps mention your concerns to school to get their perspective, and then depending on what they think the issue is do a bit of research on how you can support someone who struggles to study in an organised way.

As PP said, you can’t make someone something they are not. So if you are super organised it’s worth doing some research into how to support someone who is different (whether it’s that she’s just v relaxed, or a procrastinator, or actually anxious etc) - not forgetting of course that some of it may simply be immaturity / teen brain.

Maybe a failure at something will teach her the appropriate lesson.

Or get her a job at the Conservative Party when she leaves school as being last minute or late for everything is a valued skill, so it seems.

Her friends should stop waiting for her. Lateness is reduced by not accepting it.