No matter what is going on in your life, you can’t helped but get sucked into the enthusiasm of children on Halloween.
Hope you had a Happy Halloween!
Thomas and Boba Fett
Tag: Thomas the Train
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?
Goodish Things Will Happen
As I was getting little T.Puzzle dressed for the day, he is always curious to know what kind of character underpants he is going to wear. He is delighted when the characters are Thomas the Train related.
“Don’t peep or poop on Thomas!” he exclaims. I love that he says peep. It never fails to entertain me. I will be sad when he finally figures that one out.
Our day was action-packed as usual. We started at the sprinklers, headed out for pizza and then topped it off with Target. Mad Dog even had additional plans for our evening but I quickly nixed them. I told him I needed a break.
Desperately.
He then offered to take the boys to the grocery. This left me with some peace and quiet.
Finally.
When my trio of men returned, Full Speed was the first one through the door.
“What kind of report am I going to get from your Dad?” I asked referencing his and little T.Puzzle’s behavior at the store.
“Goodish and badish, Mom.”
It was goodish that he told the truth I guess.
Genius Ahead
You know how you are pretty certain that your children are gifted, talented and absolutely unique even though they sometimes drive you crazy? There must be some parental filter in our brains that takes in the data of our kids and somehow skews it so we think they are the next Einstein. This is actually a great thing because it helps on the days that all you want to do is pull your hair out in mommyhood frustration.
Of course I’m convinced that little T.Puzzle is some sort of puzzle genius. I also believe that we are really good at the things we love (that is why I only kind of like singing and cooking) and little T.Puzzle clearly loves puzzles.
We are heading into that time of year where if you aren’t at a beach or the by the pool, your tendency is to want to stay indoors to avoid the heat. This of course is a challenge with someone like little T.Puzzle. I bought him a Thomas the Train puzzle to help occupy our day. It has small pieces and is for ages 4-8. Once we got the puzzle home, he worked meticulously and completely unassisted and had it assembled in no time flat.
Of course I thought he was amazing and couldn’t believe his unbelievable tenacity and talent. I went to congratulate him and he announces, “I pooped my pants!”
That brought me down to earth in a hurry. I’m pretty sure when Einstein created all his amazing formulas and theorems, he was in fact, completely toliet-trained.
Looks like there still is a long road ahead to genius.
A Well-Trained Mom
What do you do with your child the night before they have to be put under anesthesia?
Anything they want.
That is why I helped little T.Puzzle reassemble his train track that we had put away the night before. I had to painstakingly put all the little signs, houses and trees just where he wanted them. And you know what? I’d do it all again if it makes him happy.
Writes for all Mommies 