#Reasons to be Cheerful - Wk 16

Ooh I'm in need of some cheerfulness, I am. It's been a tough ol' week back at school - and it's only been three days! Oh dear...

B's behaviour has been particularly challenging, and I'm exhausted. I'm putting it down to his own exhaustion after the busy Easter holidays and getting back into the swing of things at school. So I am delving deep for some cheery thoughts.

image credit: 123rf.com

It's nearly the weekend, so a couple of days break from the stressful mornings, phew.

Despite the aforementioned behaviour, we have managed to make the school bell 2 out of 3 days so far (we'll not mention the 3rd day when we were a whole 15 minutes late and had to put his name in the 'late book' at the front office. Tut tut)

Apart from one 'blip', I have managed to remain reasonably calm and together (outwardly, at least!) in the face of tantrums, slamming doors, punching (oh yes), screeching, and just plain stubbornness. I know this has helped to stop some potential 'flip-outs' from becoming full-blown doozies.

In between the madness, he is my cuddly wee boy and I love him. Where else am I to get cuddles from these days?!

p.s. oh, an extra cheerful note, I've just noticed that my blog pageviews have broken the 1000 mark! Small potatoes for all you seasoned bloggers out there, granted, but it feels like a milestone for little ol' me!


What is making you cheery this week?

Luke-warm tea

My first ever time linking with Just Write over at The Extraordinary Ordinary and I'm 2 days late. Must Try Harder.

As I stood in the kitchen sipping a luke-warm cup of tea, I listened to B's bedroom door being slammed ever harder and his voice rising and screeching ever louder. I was at that horribly familiar place again, wondering what on earth is the best course of action to bring this particular tantrum to a quick close? Putting him in his room only added to his frustration (hence the door banging and screaming). Removing cherished toys or threatening the removal of TV privileges had not had any effect and I was stuck for ideas. Again. 

My mind was filled at this point, with questions: Will I be able to keep my own frustrations in check and not go through and scream back at him? How the heck do I get him to calm down and not resort to the throwing/punching/lashing out he has become accustomed to of late? How am I ever going to control his behaviour when he's 8, 9, 10 yrs old and much stronger (he's already a little strong man now)? 

...and thoughts: if he damages his bedroom door he is in serious trouble - although I have no idea what 'serious trouble' would actually look like; goddammit this all started because I dared to take 10 minutes to myself to read a magazine.

Cut to half an hour later and the door is still in its frame, scattered toys and other general bedroom paraphenalia  have been begrudgingly tidied up, apologies received, tears wiped away, and reminders given about good behaviour being rewarded with the return of favourite toys. As B returns to his usual bright, happy self, I am left  exhausted, spent, drained, wishing I could brush off such episodes as easily as he can. It would certainly help my sanity.

#R2BC - Home, Hols & the Little Devil

It's #R2BC time again. My mood is not quite as buoyant as it was last week, but I will dig deep for some Cheerfulness. Positive thinking, 'n all that.

 1. I'm going back home this weekend, the first time I'll have seen my dear ol' Dad and my sister since Christmas. That's quite a long time for us, I usually manage to get home at least once a month with B, as we're only an hour a way. We're also going out for a nice lunch as we usually do when I get through (although a bit more difficult to book anywhere given it's Mother's Day...)

2. I'm booking a couple of days away for B and I for the Easter Hols, just waiting for confirmation from the holiday park. It's not far and it's not fancy, but it's going to be a different four walls which is all I am looking for, really. That, and some nice weather, obviously.

3. After experiencing B's Jekyll and Hyde moods all week and going through the emotional turbulence this brings, I feel better having accepted this behaviour as obviously a brief phase (such that I've seen before), connected to a growth spurt or whatever, and he'll return to his undevil-like self soon enough. I just need to keep myself calm in the meantime so that other parents in the playground don't need to wonder why the bonkers mummy is crying at 8.40am in the morning.

4. I'm constantly in awe of the amount of information and learning B soaks up in school, with his letters, sounds, common words and numeracy (although he always has been a bit of a genius when it comes to numbers...)


That's about my lot for this week. Hop on over to Mummy from the Heart to see other Reasons to be Cheerful.   

What happened there, then?

What makes your darling little angel turn into a raging, stubborn ogre for the whole day? Answers on a postcard, please...

Image Credit - Calvin & Hobbes

B's turning point this morning was, well, I don't really know, and I'm sure he doesn't know either. It just kind of happened all of a sudden. From sitting on my bed, bopping to Jessie J on the radio while I dry my hair, to a wide-eyed, pout-lipped, foot-stomping uncontrollable nightmare. In one fell swoop.




How did that happen, then? I must have looked away for a second.

The outcome?
A bathroom floor swimming in soapy water.

A bedroom door creaking in its well-slammed hinges.

 

A little boy with a half-washed face and unwashed anything else this morning. Who eventually gave in and ate a tiny half a carrot slice with his dinner (yeah, victory!) before he got his yoghurt. And who'll not be seeing his scooter or his knights' castle for the next week or so.

A very stressed out, worn out mummy who for once, let it get to her and had to sit in the car once the little ogre was in school and have a bit of a weep. Who felt very sorry for herself for a while, and wished she didn't have to deal with this on her own all the time. And who wishes there was a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge right now.

But who knows her little angel will show himself again tomorrow.

Just as well.

Reasons to be Cheerful

I've just found Mummy From the Heart's 'Reasons to be Cheerful 1,2,3' (#R2BC for short) this morning.

The January Blues have definitely been lurking about our house this week, so I feel I'm in need of some cheeriness!

Why am (or should) I be cheerful today?

1. B actually said he wanted to go to school this morning. Given the very different reaction on his first day back on Tuesday, this is a big achievement! And it meant we both left the house with smiles instead of grumps. A much better start to the day. Hopefully it'll continue once school's out later!

2. We have a huge tree which came down during last week's stormy weather. You could describe it as "conjoined tree twins", joined at the base of its huge trunk, and one of the 'twins' came a-thundering down last week, with an almighty crash which had both B and I running to the window to see what was happening. The reason I should be cheerful is that, given both our block of flats and the one opposite were both built within 'falling' distance of the tree, it missed both, landing instead on the grass in between.

Obviously there will be clear-up hassle (particularly given the ongoing problems with the company that is contracted to upkeep the grounds... but that's a whoooooole other story), but the fact that no damage was done, and more importantly that it came down when no-one was out in the garden - THAT doesn't bare thinking about - I do breathe a huge sigh of relief. Especially when hearing and seeing other stories of the carnage and upheaval caused by a few hours of crazy weather.

3. B had a follow-up appointment with the orthopaedics department at hospital yesterday. He's been walking on his 'tippy-toes'  for almost year now, it doesn't seem that there is any particular reason for this, but obviously I'm concerned it will lead to problems with his muscles/bones in his feet/legs. We've just to keep an eye on it for the next 6 months. Walking through the hospital, it struck me that so many parents and children go through a lot worse than tightened calf muscles. Might sound a bit worthy, but I am grateful for my child's health!

Ok, so that's my first #R2BC blog, I feel better already!

And congrats to Michelle at Mummy From the Heart's as it happens to also be her one year #R2BC Blog Hop / Linky (is there a difference between the two?) Anniversary!

Resolution - Failure!

Day 1 of Resolution (see previous post)
Result: FAILED

Didn't take long, did it? O what a failure as a parent I must be.

In my defence, B was obviously aiming for the Gold Medal in the Most Bad-Tempered / Stubborn Boy Competition this morning in his reluctance to go back to school. A competition he surely would have won by a country mile.

My patience and calm (outer) appearance was eventually shattered, as I tried to coax him into the bathroom while he stomped, humfed and then eventually punched (ohhhh yes...) his way round the flat for a good half an hour or so. Not even threatening and then following through on removing his most prized Santa present (a playmobil Knights Castle) encouraged him to change his ways. Oh the humanity!

So my gold medal-winner ended up going back to school with a dirty face and no teeth brushed. Luckily he relented enough to at least get his clothes on. Believe me, if I'd had to take him in his robot jammies, I would have.

So it's back to Square One tomorrow re: Resolution. I must dig out that Mediation book...