The weather has gotten warm, there is sunlight until nearly
9:00, and I’m wearing shorts every day.
It feels so good you hurry to schedule all those fun activities that are
impossible to do in the winter (plus, with the price of gas and plane tickets
who the hell is taking an actual vacation?). Beach trips, parks, zoos, train rides, even
chaperoning those lovely preschool field trips.
And did I mention I signed Chance up for swim lessons? (Yeah.
Keen is taking over that one.)
Events on paper just look so nice and neat and doable.
Today we went to this local park/zoo place which is really a
lot of fun – not to mention a place I went to when I was girl so, you know,
fond memories – that is closing down for a year for renovations. (I figure part of the remodel is because it’s
so old and outdated, and part of it is fallout from that whole nasty tiger
attack incident in
attack!) Anywho. Chance did great on the trip. A few rough play moments, but then his
playdate buddy was another rambunctious kid himself so no worries. Overall, he did a pretty good job listening
and playing and so on and so forth.
Until it came time to leave… then there was a full-blown
meltdown. With teeth.
I swear to god our calendar of events suddenly flashed
before my eyes. It’s a small wonder I
didn’t fall down in apoplexy myself.
earlier, so I figured a spin around the zoo would be the perfect cap for wind
down time. It was hot so we drank plenty
of liquids, I brought a bagged lunch that Chance ate while we were strolling
past the meerkats and the monkeys, and
I gave him plenty of warning that we would be leaving after the zoo.
Still. Had. Meltdown.
(Of course, by the time we get to the car I’m having a
tantrum myself, “If you don’t knock off this behavior we’re never doing
anything fun AGAIN!” Because, you know, that’s helpful.)
Tomorrow is a preschool field trip to the park. I definitely need to reassess our calendar.
(On the upside, after we got home and an hour into his
quiet/nap time I poked my head into his room to check on him when, without
warning, he apologized. *?!?* That’s gotta be progress, right?)
– wg
Chance apologizing is a very GOOD sign. Kids are more prone to throwing fits when they’re tired anyway.
I was going to toss in on the whole apologizing, too, and say I think that is HUGE!
I understand the whole calendar thing. Mine (make that “theirs”) looked really pretty until the middle of last week. Then times changed, programming got altered, whatever. It has thrown me off my game, and I’m less than two weeks in.
I hope the field trip goes off ok tomorrow!
I agree with the above comments. Apologizing is HUGE. It’s a big step in his self-realization. It lets you know, he knows what’s what. Very very cool.
My hubby recently gave me some advice to help ease the trauma from going from an activity to home, etc. He suggested that when it’s time to leave, offer another (small) activity for when you get home. It actually helps ease the transition a lot!
At least he apologized. That’s makes things better, although not in the middle of a meltdown. Better luck on the next trip.
Thanks guys. I know most of you have kids older than mine and it’s good to hear the apology is a good sign! I appreciate the feedback!
Indeed it is!