I'll start with some cute moments first...
This week at school they have been discussing the letter J. The first thing he said when he got in the car and I asked him about his day Tuesday was "we are on the letter J! And I told everyone that Jillian started with a J!" I thought that was pretty sweet ;)
Then when we got home and I emptied out his folder, I saw an alphabet book that they have been putting together since the beginning of the year. Susanna wanted him to read it to her and so he did...the whole time he flipped through it, she would say things like "Oh, Dwew! I wove it!", "dats amazing!" "I WOOOOOVE it, Dwew!" (imagine a high pitched, really loud voice, with inflections that imitate Mike and I when they do something great!..pretty dang cute, if you ask me). He was so patient with her, he just kept flipping through it and pointing out the pictures to her.
A few weeks ago we went car shopping (yep, looking for a van, people!) and the kids were getting bored so we put on The Incredibles while we were driving around. So now he is on this kick where he pretends he is Dash and he "dashes" around the house/yard/church/store/etc. Today he was running laps around the living room and kitchen and he kept saying "look! I'm dashing super fast, like super mario! See me dashing, mom?" Then he said "Hey mom, can you even see my feet?" So of course, I told him no, that he was going so fast I couldn't even see his feet! He LOVED that! Then he told me that I was "eladda girl" (elasti-girl) and princess peach, only I had "stretch arm powers" but my "dress is pink and skin is beige". Which makes total sense, of course. His imagination is something else and he pays really close attention to detail.
He has been trying to learn to read words and it is so fun to see his mind work. We borrowed Green Eggs and Ham from the library and it is all they want to read before bed time. He is doing pretty well at recognizing the first letter of certain words and then, because we've read it so much, he remembers how the phrase goes. He has such animation in his voice when he reads. It's awesome to watch!
Although he is precious and funny most of the time (a stretch these days), he is extremely particular. To the point where it gets really frustrating for us. I keep reminding myself to just think about things from his perspective before I act, which is difficult to do at times. I think it is important for us as parents to not simply dismiss our children's feeling/frustrations/idiosyncrasies as ridiculous or silly just because we don't understand their behavior and it is something I am working on pretty intensely, which has made our days much more pleasant. Anyway, the other day I had to run to the store to grab a few things before we headed to my brother's house for a birthday party. Mike's aunt was in town and staying with us so I was going to be going to the party by myself all three kids so Mike and his aunt could sing at a funeral. I was kind of in a hurry and so I tried to sneak away, going to the store alone is much quicker and less of a hassle, but Susanna wanted to come. Then Drew wanted to come. Mike asked if I was ok with them coming with me (and why he even asked, I have no idea!!!! because any young mom would already know the answer, why not a young dad?!). In his defense, I should have been honest but I said it was fine, as I huffed out the door. As I got the kids out of the car and closed the doors, Drew started crying because he wanted to shut his own door. We did not have time for a do-over so I carted a crying 4-year-old and his sister into the store. He cried the whole time and I should mention, had been really crabby and demanding that whole morning anyway. I was beyond frustrated when we got home, we quickly ate and then left for the party. We got home that night later than I'd have liked but the kids had to bathe because they were so dirty from being outside. I fixed them a fast dinner, along with water to drink and sat down to feed Jillian. Drew asked why I had gotten him water and then got mad because he wanted to get his own water, so he dumped his out all over the table. I couldn't immediately react because of Jillian so I told him he was to clean it up with a towel and then meet me in the bathroom for a spanking because he had been so demanding and disobedient all day and I was tired of it. He did as I said and then got super mad once I spanked him. I managed to bathe him as he kicked and screamed and when I brought him to his room (kicking and crying), he head-butted me as hard as he could! I was so mad, I spanked that bare bottom and stuck him in his room, locked the door, and just let him cry. This was the scene Mike and his aunt came home to while I finished bathing Susanna.
We let him cry for a while and then Mike went in to talk to him. Eventually, Drew came out to apologize and it went like this...
"Mom? Can I talk to you?" "Yes, Drew" (and I knelt down on his level). He grabbed both of my hands, looked me straight in the eyes and said "I'm really sorry that I spilled my water and pitched a big fit." He started getting teary-eyed and so then I did too. He kept my hands in his and said "and I'm sorry that I head-butted you and made a bad choice". So we hugged and I said that I forgave him and that I was sorry I had to spank him. It ended up being really sweet but, boy howdy, I was exhausted when it was all said and done.
Yesterday before school we were running late. I keep telling myself that I am going to get up on time but it just doesn't happen most days. I had to run a few errands once I dropped Drew off so as I hurried to get breakfast ready and dress the girls, feed the baby, and pack his snack, I just got more and more stressed as the time ticked by. And for some reason he was going sooooo slow! I'm convinced he was doing it on purpose. Once I got the girls loaded up in the car, I went in his room to see what was taking so long and the kid was putting on socks to wear with his Crocs?! I kept trying to hurry him along, all the while getting more and more aggravated. I had been raising my voice for the passed 10 minutes by this point and so was he. We finally get in the car 2 minutes before I was supposed to drop him off and I was so worried about being late, being the last mom to drop off their kid, and so done with his slow-poking. I realized once I dropped him off (I was not the last one in the car line), that all of the fussing and stressing had not been worth it, wasn't necessary, and that it was actually my fault. I was not up on time, I was worried about it all, and I had let myself stress about it, which caused me to yell at my kid! Yes, I'm convinced that he purposely goes slow sometimes just to be difficult but mostly, it was me! Just one of the many revelations I've had in the past few months...working on the mothering thing one day at a time.
We love Mr. Drew. He is our sweet, independent, concerned, observant, funny, silly, and hard-headed boy. Today he woke up, came into the kitchen, and the first thing he said was 'Mom! Happy Birthday! It's May 11th!" He gave me a huge hug and kiss (on the cheek) and I just melted!
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