I could talk behavior for hours, but I'll try to keep it brief.
The quick answer: well, it depends on the child
The long answer: For this child, we had two blows against us. His parents want him to lose weight (psychotropic meds have a nasty habit of putting on weight a lot of times) so they figured the best way to do that was to send lunches (unfortunatley not just healthier lunches, but less food). So the first problem is the breaking of the routine, the second problem is this kid hates his lunch and won't fill up on it.
This particular child can't go through the line with his home lunch because the meltdown that will occur when he can't get the school lunch will most likely be bigger than just skipping the line altogether. So it's a lesser of two evils.
If Mom had consulted me, I probably would have shaped the behavior by doing one week of him still getting school lunches, but only letting him put his number in at the end of the line and not walking through, followed by giving him the school lunch just at the table (and me going through the line and doing the number for him), and then eventually presenting the home made lunch at the table and skipping the line completely.
But I didn't get a say in this particular instance. And now (after 3 weeks and few suggestions to Mom from me), he's cool with it.
But yes, in some instances it is just about adaptability. I have one student who used to totally wig out over any irregularity in the schedule. So just to get him to learn to deal, I would randomly take him on a walk, or take him for an impromtu recess by himself, or take him to the library, and give him no warning. At first, there were lots of tears and screaming, but now we're good. Because sometimes, sh!t happens and you gotta deal (think of trying to get all those guys out of the building during a fire drill.....)
I found out some more info on breaking leases in my state. It's not that big of a deal, basically. I'm going to check out one other property right now that's in the same neighborhood for the same price range. I'm not going to sign anything today. H and I have MC tonight. But I think for my sanity, and for the long-term health of our M, I shouldn't move in right now. If I'm only there for 2 months, oh well.
