Tears and Gladness

Thomas has been crying a lot lately- over everything and nothing! Oh the tantrums he throws are delightful. We went to Target the other day and something set him off. He refused to move, so I walk away, down the aisle, turn the corner, and wait. I was out of eyesight so surely he would come soon. Nope. This boy is STUBBORN! After a minute I peeked my head around the corner to make sure he was fine, and he was just standing there arms crossed and glowering. I just waited it out. After a couple minutes he slowly made his way down the aisle. Not at all pleased. He walked behind me, arms still crossed, lips pouted out, and then he stopped again. I turned and noticed that he had taken his shoes off and they were about 10 feet behind him. I asked if he wanted them or should we just leave them there? An older lady heard me, and so she asked if she could take them home with her. He was not about to talk to some lady he did not know so he just glared. She soon walked away. I was just standing there with him and told him that if he didn't put them on then they would stay at the store. This time another woman heard me and said that she really liked those shoes, she had boys at home(here she picked up one of the shoes), and said her boys would love them. This made Thomas stop to think for a second, but you could tell he didn't want to be manipulated by some woman he didn't know. She asked if she could have them and he shook his head no. She then said well do you want me to pick them up for you or do you want me to leave them on the floor? He stared her down for about 10 seconds then he went to get them from her. Oh my. An almost similar situation happens every time we go out in public now. I foolishly think that when he just stands there if I walk out of eyesight he will come, but no he isn't worried about not being able to see me. He would much rather make a stand.

Of course it was recently Halloween. The weather was disgusting. It was windy, cold, with a rain/snow mix coming down. We went trick-or-treating downtown this year, and as soon as we stepped out of the car dear Thomas broke down. It was too cold, he wanted his sunglasses, and who knows what else. Pete walked him back to the car, and I went on with the other three. Meg was Supergirl, but with the jacket and her owl snow hat people thought she was an owl. Oh well. Jack and Luke were troopers, and we eventually ran into Pete and Thomas who were giving it another try.

Meg turned 9 months. They asked if she could say Mama or Dada. I said no, but she can growl. Oh boy does she. She is very apt at expressing herself with growls. She stood solo for about 10 seconds last week, but she hasn't done it again. However, she has discovered this move and it is her favorite.

Jack was having a week. Not good behavior at school, not good behavior at Tae Kwon Do, and just all around want to pull my hair out can't believe this kid. Then one night I was a bit late getting everyone ready for bed, and Meg wanted to go to sleep and the younger boys wanted stories all at the same time. Out of no where Jack just said that he would read to his brothers since I was busy. He read them 3 books. He really is a sweet boy.

A week ago Luke and Jack were wrestling and fighting when Luke smashed his mouth on Jack's shoulder. There was no blood, but his bottom two front teeth were loose. I figured leave them alone and they would get better. (This has happened to us before and the leave it alone strategy has worked.) On Monday I noticed that they looked funny. They were not as straight as they normally are and they just looked different. I wiggled them and they were pretty loose. I made an appointment for the dentist, and it turns out that my 4-yr-old is just ready for those teeth to come out. His permanent teeth are already right there. Crazy! He is very excited that he gets to have this special tooth losing ability happen to him.

I took Meg and Thomas to the playground while Jack and Luke were at school. I was very impressed with myself because I honestly don't do stuff like that as much as I probably should. Of course, I was rewarded with Luke finding out and bawling his eyes out for an hour. I can't win.

That is life here. Full of tears. Interspersed with moments of joy and gladness.