The day progressed, I dealt well with Connor deciding to not nap. Which was an OK choice, he had a lot of work to do. Since he is "Star of the Week," He was tasked with filling a sheet out about himself, and writing a story. I was all about a 3 or 4 sentence story, he was ready to write a novel. That was until he actually had to write.
The story ended up as:
Iron-Man Saves Spider-Man
Iron-Man saw Spider-Man was hurt.
The Green Goblin, pushed Spider-Man.
Iron-Man saved Spider-man from the Green Goblin.
Iron-Man and Spider-Man then played with cars.
The End
My thought was, I would write out the story for him to copy it. Easy as pie. Connor's thought was to ask Mommy which letter was next for every word, then ask what that letter looked like, then complain how long this was taking, THEN get annoyed if I took a moment to work, then he would hit me with his pencil eraser to get my attention back.
Can you see the perfect storm brewing? Do you know how much I wanted to grab that pencil and wack him back (I know I am so mature!)?
Did I also mention I was out of vodka?
Now, don't get all upset. I do not need alcohol in order to parent my children, in fact, I prefer sober parenting, and suggest it to all. But, the truth is I WAS out of it. Just co-incidence, I think.
After what seemed like an eternity, in Dante's seventh level of hell, the book was written. The pictures were illustrated (mostly by yours truly), and colored by an ANGRY Connor.
I went to get a drink of water, looked at my lovely son who finished this project from hell. I was ready to beam in that moment of Mommy greatness. When.... I saw that little turkey, get a turquoise crayon and DREW ON MY WOOD TABLE. The child who refused to draw in his book, drew on my kitchen table. I viewed this with my own eyes. Caught red handed. What do I do? I ask a stupid question.
"Connor, did you just draw on the table?"
"No. CC did it."
And there folks, is where all my days of quiet Orange Rhino non-yelling went straight, the hell, outta the window. It was not the drawing. A simple, "yes I did" would have resulted me in handing him a paper towel to clean it. No biggy.
We have discussed that telling the truth is a right and true thing. Even if you do something wrong. The truth is ALWAYS better than lying, and we must always tell the truth. Always.
I lost my cool. I was angry and yelling and angry. Why would you lie to me? Don't we tell the truth?
Luckily, as I was in the middle of losing it, Jeff walked in the door. He and Connor fixed it while I stepped away for awhile.
Unfortunately, our night went down hill from there. It was the first night in 13 days, I went to bed feeling like a crappy parent.
Since starting the Orange Rhino, I have not screaming yelled, except in the bathroom and on day 13, I have noticed I raised my voice. Not a yell, but stern Mommy voice. Connor still considers that yelling. If I can get him to listen, I will not have to raise my voice. I am half tempted to start a Purple Monkey mission for Connor. I would make the Purple Monkey mission about LISTENING. Then I will Orange Rhino with no yelling. I think I might suggest this to little Connor Joe.
Oh, and ask how was CC during all this? Yeah, she got all torqued off at bedtime and cried till she barfed. Yesterday, pretty well just sucked.
But, to attempt to end on a positive note, check out Connor's "About Me" page. He has some of the best penmanship I ave ever seen. And he's 4. He has been holding a pencil the proper way since age 1.5. It is amazing. I was telling Jeff, I wondered if this is a sign he may be a writer or something. I am blessed to be his Mom, he is one great little guy. Even if he draws on my kitchen table...
Today, is Day 13, number 2. Hopefully, we will make it to day 14 eventually.
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