I have a requirement with any purse I carry. Actually, that’s a lie, I have a lot of requirements which is one of the reasons it takes me so long to find a replacement purse when I need to get something new. I don’t swap things from purse to purse so finding something that works for everything I need takes time, particularly because I apparently want characteristics in a purse that not everyone wants.
I don’t understand why people want one big compartment into which they just dump all their items, condemning them to a swirling vortex of difficult to find stuff. I want my things to be organized. I want pockets within pockets. I want it small, neat, easily contained and i want to be able to go right to the thing I need, in the darkness of a theater, without fail.
In recent years I’ve had an additional requirement added to my purse “must have” list—it has to hold my iPad. It has to hold it easily and I have to be able to get the iPad in and out of the purse quickly. It has to be protected from other belongings because I don’t want to have to get an extra protective case for the iPad when the purse should be the one doing the protecting.
It’s typically been a search, but I’ve been able to find a purse that’s small while meeting my needs. I’ve had an iPad since day one of the first 3G iPad launch which I think goes back eight-ish years and I’m rough on purses.
My latest purse I really like. It’s got a main channel in the middle that fits the iPad very nicely, although it’s tight. I’d been pulling my iPad in and out of this compartment for probably a year-and-a-half now and not thinking much about it until earlier this week when I upgraded iPads to the iPad Pro small version. The dimensions are almost the same as the iPad Air I had with the exception of being slightly longer.
I tested it in my purse and it fit, but I noted I’d have to be even more careful getting it in and out with the zipper in the way. I got the iPad, did the backing up, restoring from iCloud and setting up on the new iPad Pro while simultaneously upgrading my son’s iPad to my current iPad Air 2. This was all going very well and to plan.
I went out to dinner and was telling my husband about the slightly larger dimension and the zipper and the carefulness and then something struck me: I never zipped that zipper. Not once. Not one time in the entire time I’d owned that purse, with the possible exception of at the store before buying it, had I zipped that zipper. The purse stayed closed without the need to be zipped. So why, exactly, was I carefully taking the time to work around the zipper to avoid any scratching?
I looked at the zipper. It was just attached to the edge of the leather. It could be removed in five minutes and it wouldn’t even be missed. When I got home I sliced it out and now I can just cram the iPad in and out with nary a thought to unwanted scratches. Why is it so hard to see a solution to a problem you didn’t even know you had sometimes?
The Big Boy Update: We were going on a picnic playdate with a friend from my daughter’s school who is also visually impaired. My son was not one bit interested in going when we discussed it earlier today (even though it was to one of his favorite parks). He said, “why do people always picnic for lunch and never for breakfast or dinner?” Good question.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter has figured out she can both message and call people who have the Amazon Echo (or Alexa as it’s commonly known) as long as they have an Alexa. She’s called Nana and Papa, Aunt A and while we weren’t paying attention, figured out how to call Uncle Eric and Aunt Kelly. She’s been sending messages to Maddie, Ellie, Gigi and Juju, my best friend’s children down the street and she likes to ask if it’s too early to call people. So beware, if you have an Amazon Echo and my daughter is made aware, she’s probably going to call you. And if you don’t answer, you might have a voice message left for you for when you get home.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Zip Line
We went to a zip line experience in the woods today for a birthday party. I’m going to stop right here and say I was disappointed it wasn’t a birthday party for the adults, because even the children’s area was up in the trees and looked like fun to me. I loved being in trees as a child, spending far too much time in them, just ask my mother and you’ll hear stories.
And there was indeed an area for the adults but it was a three-hour circuit and we were with the children who were doing a one hour event. We had to have someone go with my daughter, mostly because she was under six-years-old, but secondly from our perspective because we didn’t know what she’d be able to see in the wooded area where everything was shades of wood and brown.
My husband went with her and initially she was hesitant due in part because she couldn’t see well and didn’t know where to place her feet. But once she figured out what to do she had a good time. The circuit had two halves with each half ending in a zip line ride to the ground. When I asked her what she thought she said, “I was scared at first but now I like it”. And there was no stopping her after that.
My son didn’t need any help. He got his harness on and then did something a little out of character for him, jumping up and down saying, “I’m over-excited!”
They both had fun. I took some pictures. Next time I’m getting up in the trees with them, dang it.
The Big Boy Update: My son explained to me with much authority the other day, “bald means old and old means smart.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was on the phone with her cousin, Coco. I think Coco asked her what she was doing tomorrow. My daughter told her, “I’m going to wake up super early. Because my body wakes up when my eyes open.”
Longer: Today my best friend and I were targeting twenty miles in preparation for the marathon we’re running locally on November 12th. We had run sixteen last week and wanted to add a few more miles. We ended up going over the twenty mile target and decided to round it up to twenty-one miles in the neighborhood before we got back to the house. All the food I ate yesterday paid off. It was a fairly easy run in comparison to last week’s less-calorie prepped run.
And there was indeed an area for the adults but it was a three-hour circuit and we were with the children who were doing a one hour event. We had to have someone go with my daughter, mostly because she was under six-years-old, but secondly from our perspective because we didn’t know what she’d be able to see in the wooded area where everything was shades of wood and brown.
My husband went with her and initially she was hesitant due in part because she couldn’t see well and didn’t know where to place her feet. But once she figured out what to do she had a good time. The circuit had two halves with each half ending in a zip line ride to the ground. When I asked her what she thought she said, “I was scared at first but now I like it”. And there was no stopping her after that.
My son didn’t need any help. He got his harness on and then did something a little out of character for him, jumping up and down saying, “I’m over-excited!”
They both had fun. I took some pictures. Next time I’m getting up in the trees with them, dang it.
The Big Boy Update: My son explained to me with much authority the other day, “bald means old and old means smart.”
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was on the phone with her cousin, Coco. I think Coco asked her what she was doing tomorrow. My daughter told her, “I’m going to wake up super early. Because my body wakes up when my eyes open.”
Longer: Today my best friend and I were targeting twenty miles in preparation for the marathon we’re running locally on November 12th. We had run sixteen last week and wanted to add a few more miles. We ended up going over the twenty mile target and decided to round it up to twenty-one miles in the neighborhood before we got back to the house. All the food I ate yesterday paid off. It was a fairly easy run in comparison to last week’s less-calorie prepped run.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Riding Separately
For four years we drove my children to and from school together. Every school day we’d shuffle them both into the car and at the end of the day we’d collect them for the ride back home. Because of school and other activities we typically do as a family, the vast majority of time my children are in a car together.
This year it’s different for the first time. My daughter has her own travel regime with her van driver and the other students. It’s like the bus experiences I had as a child only with fewer people and at a much younger age. It’s a long ride there and back but she’s getting used to it.
My son on the other hand has an entirely different travel day this year. It’s just him and one parent on the drive from or to school. I’ve noticed he has different facets of his personality come out when it’s just the two of us in the car. Sometimes he’ll sit and just look out the window. Maybe he’s thinking, I don’t know, sometimes I wonder if he’s fallen asleep. Then he’ll ask for a particular song or want to talk to me about something.
My daughter doesn’t have the luxury of looking at her surroundings and the things passing by as we drive to places. She’s also very verbal and wants to talk about everything. I can’t figure out if we’re doing her a disservice by letting her almost demand to be communicated with all the time. Playing Simon Says, deciding on what song will be next, playing another game called, “that game”, the list goes on. She just needs to be stimulated. Or at least we think she does.
I’m off topic on this post but that’s not atypical for me. What amount of stimulation does my daughter need and how much of that needs to be from a person interacting with her constantly? My son has learned to occupy himself for long stretches. Easily with something digital, but he can get absorbed in other things for hours sometimes.
So where’s the balance? Too much interaction for my daughter, causing her not to be self-reliant? What about not enough interaction with my son because we’re spending a lot of time making sure my daughter is being cared for? Hell if I know. But we’re figuring it out. Thankfully we have some people who understand and speak “child” and can translate for us.
At any sidetracked rate…it’s been nice having time alone with each child in the car this school year. Today was my daughter’s last day for her first quarter of year-round school. She’s out of school for the next three weeks so she’ll get some alone time with us every day.
The Big Boy Update: On the ride to school my son was looking at the houses in the neighborhood and said, “some people have a bad backyard.” I asked him how so? He said, “they don’t have a downhill.” Our backyard drops off fairly steeply, but there’s a creek way down the hill. Some might not find it preferable topography but apparently my son does.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter’s class has a t-shirt that was made for them. The back of the shirt has each child’s signature on it (well, name in print). My daughter loves to write her name. She was learning some words and letters before she lost her vision but the only thing that’s really remained well is her name. She loves writing it. She came home today with the coloring book filled in with page after page of her name written over and over. She’s working on her numbers too and likes to write 1 through 100, but the rest of the letters are largely a blur in her mind I think.
FULL: We’re running twenty miles tomorrow morning starting at dark o’clock. So I don’t crash three-quarters through, I’ve been eating all day long. I had two lunches and haven’t stopped eating into the afternoon. I don’t like overeating but I like feeling awful on a long run even more.
This year it’s different for the first time. My daughter has her own travel regime with her van driver and the other students. It’s like the bus experiences I had as a child only with fewer people and at a much younger age. It’s a long ride there and back but she’s getting used to it.
My son on the other hand has an entirely different travel day this year. It’s just him and one parent on the drive from or to school. I’ve noticed he has different facets of his personality come out when it’s just the two of us in the car. Sometimes he’ll sit and just look out the window. Maybe he’s thinking, I don’t know, sometimes I wonder if he’s fallen asleep. Then he’ll ask for a particular song or want to talk to me about something.
My daughter doesn’t have the luxury of looking at her surroundings and the things passing by as we drive to places. She’s also very verbal and wants to talk about everything. I can’t figure out if we’re doing her a disservice by letting her almost demand to be communicated with all the time. Playing Simon Says, deciding on what song will be next, playing another game called, “that game”, the list goes on. She just needs to be stimulated. Or at least we think she does.
I’m off topic on this post but that’s not atypical for me. What amount of stimulation does my daughter need and how much of that needs to be from a person interacting with her constantly? My son has learned to occupy himself for long stretches. Easily with something digital, but he can get absorbed in other things for hours sometimes.
So where’s the balance? Too much interaction for my daughter, causing her not to be self-reliant? What about not enough interaction with my son because we’re spending a lot of time making sure my daughter is being cared for? Hell if I know. But we’re figuring it out. Thankfully we have some people who understand and speak “child” and can translate for us.
At any sidetracked rate…it’s been nice having time alone with each child in the car this school year. Today was my daughter’s last day for her first quarter of year-round school. She’s out of school for the next three weeks so she’ll get some alone time with us every day.
The Big Boy Update: On the ride to school my son was looking at the houses in the neighborhood and said, “some people have a bad backyard.” I asked him how so? He said, “they don’t have a downhill.” Our backyard drops off fairly steeply, but there’s a creek way down the hill. Some might not find it preferable topography but apparently my son does.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter’s class has a t-shirt that was made for them. The back of the shirt has each child’s signature on it (well, name in print). My daughter loves to write her name. She was learning some words and letters before she lost her vision but the only thing that’s really remained well is her name. She loves writing it. She came home today with the coloring book filled in with page after page of her name written over and over. She’s working on her numbers too and likes to write 1 through 100, but the rest of the letters are largely a blur in her mind I think.
FULL: We’re running twenty miles tomorrow morning starting at dark o’clock. So I don’t crash three-quarters through, I’ve been eating all day long. I had two lunches and haven’t stopped eating into the afternoon. I don’t like overeating but I like feeling awful on a long run even more.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Welcome to the Decade
Today was my husband’s birthday. I’m older than he is by a number of years. Not that many years, but enough to make me envious of his youth when I remember his age from time to time. Neither my husband or I celebrate birthdays with much, well, celebration. The only thing he asked for was to absolutely, positively not have a surprise birthday party.
That birthday party not having part was fairly easy. I’m mostly lazy and not coordinating something secretive for someone who really didn’t want people jumping out from behind the furniture and yelling at him on his birthday was an easy sell for me. So I did nothing.
I figured something would present itself for his birthday. And it did in a round about way. Through a series of unconnected conversations that eventually became a cohesive plan, we revamped our mechanical room. Crap was cleaned out, thrown away and moved elsewhere. The concrete floor was painted blue and sealed. One concrete wall was painted adobe red and a second concrete wall was painted some green color I don’t remember the name of.
We ordered a very colorful rug that covers two-thirds of the room and lights up in black light. And then we moved the pinball machine and old arcade machine in the room. My neighbor had a pinball machine that is now in the room and then—remember that birthday thing I’d hope would present itself? Something presented itself.
Phone calls were made. Our neighbor and my husband went on recon missions to the retro arcade bar downtown. Backordered stock was investigated and then shipment was made and delivery made to the house here. We didn’t think it would happen, but we got the pinball machine my husband wanted one day before his birthday.
It’s cool. It’s fun. It’s complex. It makes fun noises. It’s high tech (there’s even a phone app). And it was the perfect birthday present for my husband. Here’s what our mechanical room looks like from the door:
My husband is forty-years-old now. Welcome to the decade.
The Big Boy Update: My son wanted to know what I was eating this afternoon. I told him the little tin contained little tiny pieces of unsweetened licorice. I told him I wasn’t sure if he’d like it but I thought it was great. He held his hand out and asked for one saying, “I like to try new things”. He did eat it for a bit but I caught him rolling down the window and throwing it out.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Guys, I had completely forgotten about this but apparently it still happens. My daughter at dinner tonight launched into, and completed successfully, The Pledge of Allegiance. She learned it in public school. It’s just been a long time since I was in school and I have no recollection of ever saying it in all my school years.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Neurotypical
My daughter had a troublesome day. Strike that, I’m not sure it was that troublesome to her, but it was to us, her parents. I got a phone call from the school transportation van driver saying she was going to have to write my daughter up for her behavior.
We don’t know the driver, Naba, that well, but we do know she cares for the children and does what she can to make the ride enjoyable. even though it’s long. But today wasn’t good. There is a very young child in the car some of the time and the “baby cries all the time” my daughter has said. That has to be annoying. But this was something more.
When Naba arrived we made my daughter stand at the curb with us and listen to what had happened. She had called the driver stupid, kicked the back of the driver’s seat repeatedly, screamed loudly and then (and this is the best part) told the boys in the back seat that tomorrow she was going to bring a knife in her backpack and cut them up.
It gets worse though, the children she was threatening were autistic. They can’t handle the screaming and they were very scared my daughter would follow through with her threat and begged to be brought home first in the future.
As you can well imagine, this won’t do on several fronts. Naba is very kind and said she didn’t want to write her up and ultimately didn’t (we didn’t try and dissuade her, this was write-up material if there ever was any). She said in November she was out for some time with hand surgery and the other drivers would write her up easily and if she was written up three times she would lose transportation for the remainder of the year.
My daughter had to stay in her room and there was crying—a lot of crying. She knew she was in trouble. The word, “stupid” has been disallowed from the family from here on out unless you’re saying you can’t say the word, “stupid”.
I called our play therapist citing a, “minor behavioral emergency” if she was able. And she was and in five minutes she had helped me. Here’s what’s happening: my daughter is very, very frustrated. She is neurologically normal or, “neurotypical”. She’s tired at the end of the day and she’s put in a car with “neuroatypical” or autism spectrum children. Those children can’t interact with her in a way that’s mentally stimulating we got from Naba and the therapist.
So bottom line, my daughter is acting out because she’s frustrated and bored. We have a snack and activity plan for the next two days in the car and then she’s tracked out for three weeks. If we can’t find a solution to the lack of mental stimulation we may have to pick her up from school for a while.
The Big Boy Update: My son is getting the reading thing down faster than I would have expected. There were issues with his class last year that caused his education to get multiple staggered starts putting him a bit behind. He seems to be catching up quickly now.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: At bedtime my daughter said, “I don’t like you yelling at me”. I told her I was sorry and I hated yelling at her. I asked her to come up with some ideas for the ride home to keep her entertained and she came up with coloring in a coloring book “with big lines”. She picked three marker colors. We’ll see if that helps tomorrow and she doesn’t threaten to knife anyone again.
We don’t know the driver, Naba, that well, but we do know she cares for the children and does what she can to make the ride enjoyable. even though it’s long. But today wasn’t good. There is a very young child in the car some of the time and the “baby cries all the time” my daughter has said. That has to be annoying. But this was something more.
When Naba arrived we made my daughter stand at the curb with us and listen to what had happened. She had called the driver stupid, kicked the back of the driver’s seat repeatedly, screamed loudly and then (and this is the best part) told the boys in the back seat that tomorrow she was going to bring a knife in her backpack and cut them up.
It gets worse though, the children she was threatening were autistic. They can’t handle the screaming and they were very scared my daughter would follow through with her threat and begged to be brought home first in the future.
As you can well imagine, this won’t do on several fronts. Naba is very kind and said she didn’t want to write her up and ultimately didn’t (we didn’t try and dissuade her, this was write-up material if there ever was any). She said in November she was out for some time with hand surgery and the other drivers would write her up easily and if she was written up three times she would lose transportation for the remainder of the year.
My daughter had to stay in her room and there was crying—a lot of crying. She knew she was in trouble. The word, “stupid” has been disallowed from the family from here on out unless you’re saying you can’t say the word, “stupid”.
I called our play therapist citing a, “minor behavioral emergency” if she was able. And she was and in five minutes she had helped me. Here’s what’s happening: my daughter is very, very frustrated. She is neurologically normal or, “neurotypical”. She’s tired at the end of the day and she’s put in a car with “neuroatypical” or autism spectrum children. Those children can’t interact with her in a way that’s mentally stimulating we got from Naba and the therapist.
So bottom line, my daughter is acting out because she’s frustrated and bored. We have a snack and activity plan for the next two days in the car and then she’s tracked out for three weeks. If we can’t find a solution to the lack of mental stimulation we may have to pick her up from school for a while.
The Big Boy Update: My son is getting the reading thing down faster than I would have expected. There were issues with his class last year that caused his education to get multiple staggered starts putting him a bit behind. He seems to be catching up quickly now.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: At bedtime my daughter said, “I don’t like you yelling at me”. I told her I was sorry and I hated yelling at her. I asked her to come up with some ideas for the ride home to keep her entertained and she came up with coloring in a coloring book “with big lines”. She picked three marker colors. We’ll see if that helps tomorrow and she doesn’t threaten to knife anyone again.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Aural Psynapse
My son and I have similar tastes in music. We’ve both liked an artist named Deadmau5 for a few years now and have a station programmed in the car that we listen to frequently. This morning I was taking him to school and we had skipped through a few songs. We got to Aural Psynapse and he said to keep the song on, this one he wanted to hear out.
He sat quietly in the back seat, listening to the song, and then he started asking me questions about the music as though he was hearing it in a different way. I told him the artist (Deadmau5 is a man) made this music mostly electronically and the sound he was hearing was likely not a specific musical instrument but could be made like we could make different noises on our keyboard.
We then got into “tracks” and how you could make one sound, have it repeat and then make a second sound on top of that first “track” adding another layer. We listened to the song through the rest of the ride to school (it was a long song) and talked about how some were drum-type sounds, some were melody and some were even like air swooshing sounds.
We have a friend, Nate, who is a musician and makes his own music. My son used to play his drums every time we went to their house because toddlers think drum sets are the best toys on the planet. Maybe, I told him, Nate could show him how to layer music sometime.
The Big Boy Update: My mother asked my son what Parkour was. She’d seen him bouncing and flipping about and knew he was taking parkour classes and hoped he could explain it some. He told her it was like gymnastics but different. She asked what he meant so he elaborated, “in the old days there was no parkour, only gymnastics” which I think he thought made everything clear.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My mother and I picked up my daughter from school this afternoon. We were talking along while she was having a snack. She pulled her water bottle out of her backpack and then said, “uh oh, I’m out of water. I can’t live without water.”
Short Run: Due to a miscommunication, my best friend and I were offset in running start time this morning. The issue was largely due to me kicking off the iOS 11 installation on all my devices and promptly falling asleep resulting in me not getting her message about starting running earlier. When my alarm went off she had messaged me she was already out, trying to fend off the muggers and hooligans in the dark with her deadly iPhone 6. I got in three-and-a-half miles before we had to head in.
He sat quietly in the back seat, listening to the song, and then he started asking me questions about the music as though he was hearing it in a different way. I told him the artist (Deadmau5 is a man) made this music mostly electronically and the sound he was hearing was likely not a specific musical instrument but could be made like we could make different noises on our keyboard.
We then got into “tracks” and how you could make one sound, have it repeat and then make a second sound on top of that first “track” adding another layer. We listened to the song through the rest of the ride to school (it was a long song) and talked about how some were drum-type sounds, some were melody and some were even like air swooshing sounds.
We have a friend, Nate, who is a musician and makes his own music. My son used to play his drums every time we went to their house because toddlers think drum sets are the best toys on the planet. Maybe, I told him, Nate could show him how to layer music sometime.
The Big Boy Update: My mother asked my son what Parkour was. She’d seen him bouncing and flipping about and knew he was taking parkour classes and hoped he could explain it some. He told her it was like gymnastics but different. She asked what he meant so he elaborated, “in the old days there was no parkour, only gymnastics” which I think he thought made everything clear.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My mother and I picked up my daughter from school this afternoon. We were talking along while she was having a snack. She pulled her water bottle out of her backpack and then said, “uh oh, I’m out of water. I can’t live without water.”
Short Run: Due to a miscommunication, my best friend and I were offset in running start time this morning. The issue was largely due to me kicking off the iOS 11 installation on all my devices and promptly falling asleep resulting in me not getting her message about starting running earlier. When my alarm went off she had messaged me she was already out, trying to fend off the muggers and hooligans in the dark with her deadly iPhone 6. I got in three-and-a-half miles before we had to head in.
Monday, September 25, 2017
No Pajamas
Parenting can get you into some pretty dark places. Last night my son had perhaps too much energy. This could have been in part because my husband and I had a lot to do during the day and my son can and will entertain himself all day with iPad this and Xbox that and Netflix here and Wii U there. We should have booted him outside and locked the door to ensure he got some energy burned. Only we didn’t.
My husband got a glimpse of the need at dinner and had promised the children he’d take them on a night walk in the woods with flashlights after dinner and homework. Which did happen, only it wasn’t long enough because the children came back amped up and unable to focus enough thoughts to get their clothes off to get into the bath.
My son couldn’t focus on anything but being energetic. He was warned. He was redirected. He was cautioned he was on his last warning and his butt better get in the tub stat or there would be consequences. He did get in the tub but at that point but he was still out of control. Defiant not listening kind of out of control, which isn’t really like him. He was warned one more intentional splashing and that was it.
So of course he splashed dad intentionally again. My husband doesn’t lose his temper often but he’d had it. My son got pulled out of the tub and was told to go straight upstairs to bed—wet, unwashed and without pajamas.
I stood in the hallway and prevented my son from coming back into the bathroom while he wailed, “I want just one more chance”. I told him there were no more chances, that he’d had double the share of chances he normally should have had.
He went upstairs crying and yelling and calling us all sorts of terrible names laying our deficient parenting skills. I calmly followed him up and shut the door to the room behind him. He wasn’t going to get any pajamas but I looked in the dirty clothes hamper and said, “would you look at that, there are still your pajamas from last night, maybe they’d work for tonight?”
He calmed down and got in bed after brushing his teeth. He ended the night being the perfect bedtime six-year-old. Hopefully today he’ll remember the lesson he learned last night. Hopefully my husband and I learned our lesson too and won’t leave our son in front of digital all day on the weekends.
The Big Boy Update: My son was in the house talking to me the other day. I don’t remember how the topic came up but he told me, “I’ve been a tree before.” I must have made a confused face because he ran out the front door and climbed up the tree in the front yard. When I couldn’t see any of his body any more he cried out, “see mom, I’m a tree”.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My husband made eggs for breakfast. My daughter was eating her eggs and said, “mom, I found a piece of egg that was shaped like a gun.”
My husband got a glimpse of the need at dinner and had promised the children he’d take them on a night walk in the woods with flashlights after dinner and homework. Which did happen, only it wasn’t long enough because the children came back amped up and unable to focus enough thoughts to get their clothes off to get into the bath.
My son couldn’t focus on anything but being energetic. He was warned. He was redirected. He was cautioned he was on his last warning and his butt better get in the tub stat or there would be consequences. He did get in the tub but at that point but he was still out of control. Defiant not listening kind of out of control, which isn’t really like him. He was warned one more intentional splashing and that was it.
So of course he splashed dad intentionally again. My husband doesn’t lose his temper often but he’d had it. My son got pulled out of the tub and was told to go straight upstairs to bed—wet, unwashed and without pajamas.
I stood in the hallway and prevented my son from coming back into the bathroom while he wailed, “I want just one more chance”. I told him there were no more chances, that he’d had double the share of chances he normally should have had.
He went upstairs crying and yelling and calling us all sorts of terrible names laying our deficient parenting skills. I calmly followed him up and shut the door to the room behind him. He wasn’t going to get any pajamas but I looked in the dirty clothes hamper and said, “would you look at that, there are still your pajamas from last night, maybe they’d work for tonight?”
He calmed down and got in bed after brushing his teeth. He ended the night being the perfect bedtime six-year-old. Hopefully today he’ll remember the lesson he learned last night. Hopefully my husband and I learned our lesson too and won’t leave our son in front of digital all day on the weekends.
The Big Boy Update: My son was in the house talking to me the other day. I don’t remember how the topic came up but he told me, “I’ve been a tree before.” I must have made a confused face because he ran out the front door and climbed up the tree in the front yard. When I couldn’t see any of his body any more he cried out, “see mom, I’m a tree”.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My husband made eggs for breakfast. My daughter was eating her eggs and said, “mom, I found a piece of egg that was shaped like a gun.”
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