Lord, Save Me From Little Boys!

After school, I went to the other grandparents' to pick up the children. Typically, I am not met well. Either Robin or Ryan, or both, aren't happy that I am there "already," so I end up having to cajole and joke them along to get them both in the car to go home and fix supper. It isn't fun.

Today, they were outside playing in the leaves again. (Robin was raking and Ryan was in the shed, up to no good.) When he came out, he had a scowl on his face and a little shovel in his hands that he began waving around, as he often does when he has ANYTHING that could be interpreted as a weapon. Grandma Judy reached over and took it away from him, then started for the minibarn to put it away...when he hauled off and hit her hard on the bottom. I came unglued! I grabbed his hands, got in his face, and yelled, "Don't you EVER hit your grandmother! You tell her you are sorry!" He was not at all contrite...continued to have the thundercloud on his face. So I ordered the apology again. He said he already said it. I said, "Grandma and I didn't hear it. Say it again!"--which, of course, he refused to do.

I decided to march him to the car immediately. He decided to throw himself to the ground and not walk. I decided to carry him to the car. He decided to make it difficult. Halfway there, he decided he would walk...until we got to the car, then went limp again. Ugh!! Got him in the car and buckled up. Took a piece of candy away from him that he had left in the car. "You don't get a reward for bad behavior!" And so it went... He settled down by the time we got home...sort of. I got started on supper while the children played outside for a bit. I kept hearing a strange noise, so I looked out the door and saw Ryan jumping up and down ON THE ROOF OF MY CAR!

And then there is the small issue of not being able to hit the inside of the commode when going like a "big boy"...

This after dealing with 8th graders all day. One of my young darlings got out of his seat while I was reading to the class...walked all around the room with his eyes closed...then sat back down again. Another started making mouth noises in the middle of class, just to get my attention. (When I told him to stop, he did...but he was grinning.) And so it goes.

I'm dead tired tonight, so am signing off to hit the sack. I just hope it doesn't hit back!