The Joy of Mothering

We've been having some serious problems getting Baby Girl out the door lately. She has always been what I would call a "strong willed child" and once upon a time she enforced her will whenever it came time to leave the house. She would scream and fight and kick and struggle the entire time we were getting her dressed. Then she would spend the entire drive to town/church/Grandma's house screaming in a voice that would make a banshee proud. I never knew a preschooler could have such enormous lung capacity. She could scream for 20+ minutes and did so with great frequency.

By the time we got out the door I was exhaust and screaming right along with her. More than once she reduced me to tears. Then it came time for school to start. Husband was against pre-k right from the start. I thought it was a necessity because she had never been away from us and hadn't spent much time with kids her own age. I wanted a practice run before kindergarten. He didn't think we'd ever get her out the door much less get her to stay at school for 3 hours a day.

Thanks to the Good Lord and much prayer she started school without a hitch. She gladly dressed and left every morning. She even managed to stay dressed at school. Then she quit fighting whenever we had to go anywhere else. She would willingly pick out and put on her clothes to go to town and church. Gone were the days of screaming all the way to Wal-Mart.

Or so we thought. The creature has reared it's ugly head again. Just before Christmas break we had 3 really bad mornings. Twice I had to put her on the bus mid-tantrum. That was not pleasant, but she has a fantastic bus driver who's been doing this forever and takes Baby Girl right in stride.

When we went to the "big" city Saturday she had a fit. She wanted out of her seat and out of her clothes. She did the same thing Sunday getting ready for church and Husband opted to stay home with her instead of fighting another battle. Sunday afternoon she had a breakdown because we had to go to the grocery. Monday it was a fit until we got out the door to catch the bus. Yesterday she was crying when she got on the bus.

Last night I spent a lot of time praying and reading Dr.Dobson. This morning I'm pleased to announce she was dressed and out the door with very little hassle and no screaming! I can't say it was anything I did. She woke up in a better mood and had 1 last minute change of wardrobe, but she stayed calm. Thank the Lord!

This morning as the kids were eating their breakfast I decided it was a good time to read a little devotional from an animal book we have. It was about the grumpy rhino and how to be a good friend (Baby Girl has been having friend trouble at school the last few days). At the end of the devo. Are 3 questions. One was "Who can you be a friend to?" Baby Girl named a girl in her class who has few friends. #1 Son was clamoring for attention and I said, "Who can you be a friend to, Bubba?" "WOOD!" I tried to explain it was talking about a person, but he was insistent that he should be friends with wood.

I'm pleased to announce that my grandparents are on their way home from Florida. Mamma said Aunt K is feeling better and other than the shingles and a weight limit back up to speed. Grandma on the other hand, is allergic to Florida. They used to live there and had to move because of her allergies. What ever triggered them then has struck again. I'm sorry she's ill, but glad their coming home. I need to go visit and have a Pepsi. And #1 Son needs to go see his "Grandma that lives with Bucka."