I thought it would be entertaining/distracting for me to make a note of every time I had an argument with my five year old today. Kind of like when he was a screechy 14 month old and would walk around the house crying for no reason (didn't want food, to be picked up, etc. - probably teething) and all I could think to do was videotape it so that I could laugh about it one day. Yes this makes me laugh now:
Hopefully this little rundown of the crap parts of our day will make me chuckle in the future...
7:20am: won't get dressed, withhold breakfast until he's dressed
7:58am: yelling at sister for repeating after him, yellin' at me when I try to mitigate situation
8:02am: won't brush teeth/go bathroom/wash hands, 'guess we'll miss the bus!' <- daily ritual, but it still seems to work...
8:20am: fight with sister over wanting his stuffed animal parrot
OFF TO SCHOOL
11:23am: picking up from bus stop (early release day) - 'I'm thirsty, why didn't you bring my water bottle? WHY? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY??' (okay, I added that last part)
12:00pm: at Rite Aid, getting some last minute decorations for his Valentines Day box and makes a big to-do about wanting to buy a toy (um, no)
12:20pm: not sharing Valentine's stickers with sister, epic screaming on both sides
12:40pm: parroting all of my discipline to his sister, have argument over who's the boss of baby girl (because, she's not just sitting around being a perfect angel all day - close, but not quite)
1:15pm: aaaaand so begins the daily refusal to start doing homework - our most stressful time of day. I give him five extra minutes to play and set the kitchen timer.
1:20pm: time for homework! 'Nuh uh. I don't want to.' Sits down after I write a note to his teacher about how long it's taking him to do his homework. <-almost daily ritual
1:25-1:50pm: have several spats over pictures (I can't draw a violin!) correcting his work (I can't make that 'e' any smaller!) etc. I raise my voice for the first time today and am about to lose it.
PLAYS IN SUPER CUTE FASHION WITH BABY SISTER FOR ABOUT A HALF AN HOUR, FORGET ABOUT LOSING IT
2:15PM: tell him it's time for baby girl's nap, both argue, want to play longer - set timer for five minutes
Coffee Break 2:20-4:00pm sit down with Mozart for relaxation, coffee, book and computer to fortify myself for post 'quiet time' toy fights, dinner chaos (eat over your plate!) and bedtime (no, there are no more Shaun the Sheeps).
Twelve or so altercations within about seven hours isn't too bad; less than two fights an hour. At least there's no more stern reminders to wash hands before meals, hang up coats, put away shoes, please and thank yous - lots of good in there, too! I just needed laugh for the future.
Good thing we had a great conference with his teacher and he's a pretty smart kid. He's so proud of his school. |
I love how your dog sat in the same exact spot for the whole video:) I'm very impressed that you don't have to remind him to wash his hands. Sadly, I still remind my 10 and 12 year old boys.
ReplyDeleteLOve this post and thought maybe I should be tracking how many arguements we go through in a morning...or day. Smiled because its all to familiar, change subject but same arguements.
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