Sunday, September 23, 2012

This little piggy...

Lawd have mercy!  These boys! 
 
We were jumping on the trampoline.
Discussing our plan of participating in Krispy Kreme's "National Talk Like a Pirate" day and snagging a dozen (or two) free doughnuts by dressing up as pirates.
 
Then, the bleeping, effin', overpriced, inconveniently timed ice cream truck comes through the neighborhood.
I distinctly told the boys, "No.  You are not buying ice cream from the ice cream truck."
 
 
....
 
..
 
..
 
But......Gawdigit!
They didn't listen.
 
What they DID do was
go into their room, climb to the TOP shelf,
 
grab their piggy banks down,
BREAK one open.
 
And BUY ice cream.
Actually, I think ALL of that was done by Austin.
But...Logan didn't stop him
AND when asked what he wanted, he clearly stated his ice cream preference and "allowed" Austin to purchase ice cream on his behalf. 
 
 
Soooooooo.
yeah.
There goes that trip to Krispy Kreme's for the free doughnuts.
;-(
 
And that's sort of when all hell broke loose.
I announced that the illegally purchased ice cream was going into the trash,
but Austin threw it in the backyard instead.
(That one is ALWAYS the control freak!)
;-)
 
Austin got mad,
declared me the WORST, most Horriblest mother evah!
Packed his backpack and said he was running away.
 
Logan was just simply devastated.
BEGGED for a "redo."
Apologized over and over and over.
Asked if we could talk about it.
And in between,
each time I re-stated that we were not going to be going for doughnuts,
would loose his marbles all over again.
 
 
We hadn't even had dinner yet.
I was making it through all this screaming, fit throwing and running away'ness.
Actually, half the time
I spent in the bathroom
texting my neighbor
and calling Gary.
 
Then, after I calmed down, I would come out,
work on dinner,
and then, maybe...
 go back in.
;-)
Sometimes
.....a little distance
(like a door)
makes all the difference in the world.
 
I informed the boys that dinner was going on the table.
They could eat it
or not.
They could continue their fits,
But after 20 minutes, we were going upstairs for showers and bedtime.
It was up to them if they wanted full bellies.
 
Eventually.
Eventually.
They calmed down.
And ate.

And we even had some midly normal conversations.
 
They took their showers.
Climbed into bed.
We discussed the afternoon.
The poor decisions.
That, saying all those nasty things to mom, about me, about hating me,
doesn't change the fact that I still love them.
That Mommies are built to withstand those kinds of things.
 
We discussed that all those things they were saying about themselves,
"I'm stupid.  I'm running away because you hate me."
really had no place in our lives.
That even Mommies and Daddies make bad decisions.
Bad decisions do not equal bad people.

It was an exhausting day,
after a long day of work.
 And I can only hope that a lesson was learned.
I can only hope that my
loosing it, getting as equally frustrated
doesn't scar them

...too much.

This 6 year old thing is tough.
This being a mommy thing is tough.

I declare the day a success if we survive it.
I really, really relish the happy, loving moments.
The goofiness.

I remind myself that it would have been
sooooooooooooooo easy
to have just ignored their crime
sooooooooooooooo easy
 to just go get the frickin' doughnuts.
But that
"easy"
isn't
always
best.

And I remind myself that once they fall asleep,
I can sneak into their room
and loose myself in their beautifulness.
 
 Their quiet, non-talking back, sweet, sleeping beautifulness!


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hang in there, sweet child of mine. It will all get better in time. Meanwhile, keep up what you're doing 'cause even if you don't think they're taking it in, I think they are. One little step at a time - the last few months have shown a hugh improvement so you ARE making a difference in their lives - you're a fantastic Mommy and I love you and them very much.

Bobbi said...

You did the EXACT right thing. As hard as that is, as awful as it is. And, yes, Reese says things too. Just the other night he wanted a new family. It stung, alot. But, we offered him the door.... it was dark and cold. He changed his mind, but we had a long, very stern talk about what is and isn't ok.

You are so not alone, and ya their sweet sleeping faces save them every time!!!