Road Rage

I picked my son up from school today and he nearly had a conniption fit in the car.   He found out something I'd told him this morning, but he said he didn't know.  I was talking to them while they were eating breakfast, but he's like his father in his ability to single focus incredibly well at the expense of not being able to multi-task without some effort.   

I don't know if he was concentrating on his toast or what he was going to do at school or who knows what, but I explained that their father had a commitment during the time of school pickup, so I would be getting them both after school. 

I told them this specifically this morning because my son hates it when he gets picked up and then has to ride to go get his sister.   If possible, we each go get one child because his school is quite close while my daughter's school, which has the VI specialty, is in the next town over, bordering on the town after that. 

My son smashed into something in the back seat or thrashed his backpack around.   I turned around and his teacher, who had heard it through the closed car door, came over.   I explained the situation, pointedly saying how his sister did that drive to and then from school twice every day and he was being upset about doing it once. 

Ms. Michelle responded in a calm voice, "that's families" and her soothing voice calmed my son in a way. As we drove to Reese's school, Greyson was manifesting his anger in different ways.   I told him he was very fortunate because if we could pick him up separately, we did so.   And that what I expected from him was gratitude for those times, not anger because he wasn't being picked up alone. 

That was hard.   I knew it was going to be hard to turn high anger into gratitude, so I told him it was okay today to be angry and that I understood, but that the next time his father or I picked him up and took him straight home, to say thank you.   I told him that would go a long way. 

He understood, he told me.  And I really think he did get it.   The question is, will he remember it the next time he's picked up?

The Blameful Boy Update:  My son was angry in the car this afternoon.  He was looking to take some of his frustrations out on something and his sister was an obvious target.  When she got in the car he tried several times to criticize her, which I stopped.   Kindness...is it too much to ask?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter's braillist was putting the large, heavy, roller backpack into the trunk of our car today on the week we lost our lead VI teacher.   She said, "Thank God It's Friday" to which I responded, "TGIF!"   The children hadn't heard the phrase before and Reese particularly enjoyed saying the 'God' word.   I asked her to use 'Goodness' instead, please.   She thought that was a good replacement word once I'd explained it was a better choice.