An Epic Tantrum

That's another whirlwind weekend under our belts.

Friday we had a cook-out to say "goodbye" to a lovely family from Jack's school that are moving to go to Texas. They are moving to a town called Nacogdoches, in the middle of nowhere, with black poisonous snakes that chase you. No thank you very much, I'm not living anywhere I can get chased by a snake. My mornings are stressful enough trying to get two kids, a laptop bag, my lunch box and a hot cup of coffee to my car without having a snake chase me across the front yard as well.

Saturday we met visiting Nashville friends for brunch, then did an indoor play area for the kids, then did a local parish festival. By 10pm I was dead on my feet. Of course that didn't stop me & Craig from staying up till 2am watching the original 1983 version of "The Evil Dead".

Sunday we got up super early and went to the cabin to see Char & Jan. It was a beautiful sunny day in the mid-70's and we couldn't wait to spend time with them.

Me & Danny at the cabin

Happy Kids

Char & Skipper Jack

The time between the above pictures and the below picture will from now on be referred to as "the time Daniel lost it at Indian Lake".  I have no doubt the other 9 people on the boat are still talking about it. Daniel had a tantrum of such epic proportions that we had to leave and I have never been so embarrassed or so at a loss of how to handle a situation. It started because he had to sit down on the boat. All kids had to sit down, it's the rule. He refused so we had to hold him, and restraining Daniel, to him, is awful and unbearable. Books about tantrums will recommend holding a child tightly and saying soothing things until they calm down, but they will also say that if your child is one that hates to be restrained then the holding technique just makes it 100 times worse and in that situation let go and let them have space. So Daniel hates to be held or restrained and we hate that he might launch himself off the boat, so we were stuck: him flailing, arching, shrieking and crying. Us trying everything from talking, soothing, threatening & ignoring.  Nothing worked. It was AWFUL and it went on for a full 30 minutes while they took us back to the boat ramp. Jack was driving the boat with Char and broke his heart crying when we had to leave. I felt so bad for him. At one point, 30 minutes into his melodramatic episode I was somewhat in awe that a human being could carry on like that, so crazy and loud, for so long. I just don't have the energy. So then we got him to the car, strapped him in, and 5 minutes later...

The Little Terror Sleeps

It's Jan's 60th Birthday this coming weekend and I'd love to go back and see her but this lad is banned from boats for a while (among other things he's banned from).

Hank is doing okay - not great. Mostly because Ben is being over zealous and chasing him or bothering him. So Hank is doing a lot of hiding but we are all doing our best to play with him and bring him out of his shell. It's only been 2 weeks since he came here so hopefully he'll get his confidence soon and give Ben a thick ear.

The hamsters are doing great too. They both have a ball that they can run about it. It's actually pretty funny watching them scoot all about the house.

Lastly I have to note that it's wonderful that Jack rings me half a dozen times a day. He calls to sing, to tell me stories or sometimes just to say he loves me. I wish I could save every single phone call we have (though I have saved his voice mails) because there's nothing so great as your 7-year old calling you at work and singing you a song.