Adventures in Parenting

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye Heavenly Host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. (I fixed it, Mama. I thought that's what I wrote in the first place.)

The reason behind my out pouring of praise this morning? B.B. Slept through the night! In bed (awake mind you) at 8:30 last night. Awake at 6 this morning when I put him in bed with me and he dozed back off for almost an hour! If this becomes a regular thing I may just dance a little jig out in the yard!

Now I must regress slightly and tell you about the Adventures of Captain Distructo! #1 Son has been pushing me to the breaking point lately. Sunday morning, which is normally the most stressful time of the week for me, was going very smoothly. All the kids were up, we were eating cinnamon rolls, I had curled my hair, all was right in the world. Suddenly I heard something hard hit my linoleum. Then an odd commotion and the same sound again.

By the time I made it into the living room I found #1 Son throwing evidence over the safety gate into the kitchen. He had taken two angel figurines off the entertainment center and thrown them on the floor. Both heads were broken off and one lost her wings.

Now, I do not collect angels. One was a gift from my parents for Christmas years ago and one was a gift from Husbands co-workers when his grandfather died. Both had sentimental value. I was not happy. As a matter of fact, I was reduced to tears. Not so much because the figures were broken, both were successfully repaired with a little super glue, but because I felt like I was fighting a loosing battle with my son. He has been continually in trouble for getting things off the entertainment center lately. He works hard to get up there. It usually involves dragging something to the front of it and climbing up. He's making me crazy.

As soon as we got home from church he dug a roll of wrapping paper out from under the bed, pulled it all the paper off, and played with the roll. He did the same thing again yesterday...After he emptied an entire bottle of Bath and Body Works Cotton Blossom lotion on the bathroom counter, sink, and floor. Whoever thought carpet in a bathroom was a good idea should be strung up and flogged with a dead herring (no offence to anyone who has made this design decision, it's just not for me...Or small children).

Oh, and did I mention he pulled the entire computer tower off the desk and on to his own head Saturday? I lunged over the gate just in time to catch it before it hit the floor, but the camera dock/printer which rests on top of the tower came crashing down on my foot. Ouch! At least no serious damage was done to his face or the computer. I still haven't figured out how he managed that one, and I was watching the whole episode. Have you ever had one of those "slow motion" experiences? That was one.

Last night I was telling Mama all this and I said I didn't know what to do with him. She said he probably just needed some one on one attention and maybe a trip to the park to run off some steam. With all the excitement lately, he must feel left out. DUH! Isn't that parenting 101? How is it I missed something that obvious? Art and I were talking about it and she said sometimes we're too quick to think something is seriously wrong (behavior wise) with our kids and we miss the most basic of things. Guess I need a refresher course!