A Leopard’s Spots

I’ll admit it. I’ve been avoiding long public outings with little T.Puzzle on the days he is home with me. I just don’t have it in me. The span of my motherhood experience (going on almost six years), has seen more than its share of bad situations in which one or more of my children reaches meltdown status at the most inopportune moments.

I can’t avoid the public forever so I took little T.Puzzle to the mall.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

It is not.

At the mall there are several transitions that have to transpire. As each transition builds upon the last the odds of little T.Puzzle reaching meltdown status increase exponentially.

First, the dreaded play area. This is where I have to watch him like a hawk so he doesn’t tackle innocent toddlers or bite someone who rankles him.

So far so good. He did okay.

Then on to the train.

My favorite.

We actually had a great time.

After that, it was lunchtime and then a potty break.

He was handling all these many transitions like a pro. I can absolutely tell he is maturing and can be coached verbally to avoid tantrums…

That is until it was time to leave the Thomas the Train table at Books.A.Million.

Yikes!!

I’m still not out of the woods yet, people. And my apologies to all the passersby who witnessed little T.Puzzle’s unfortunate descent into the realm of tantrum.

He is who he is. He’s a kid with a colorful personality that gets frustrated if you ask too much of him. Is it really his fault that he melted down or mine because I didn’t leave earlier?

You can’t change a leopard’s spots, but you can keep him locked in his room until he’s eighteen, right?