Of Weeping, Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth  

Posted by Heidi in



This morning, early, I walked past the pile of towels waiting to be folded, kicked aside the toys that littered my path, said adios to the dirty dishes from last night (this is neither the time or place to mention the couch pushed askew, the floor that needs vacuuming, most desperately, and the orange—yes orange—ring around the toilet bowl) and left the house with a sobbing Little Guy over my shoulder.

It seems there was a cavity to be filled (it turned out to be two but who’s counting?) though this was not the reason for the Little Guy’s tears. In fact, he had so much fun at the dentist that I will never be able to snarl “You had better go brush your teeth, young man, or there’ll be another trip to the dentist!” Because of this first oh-so-positive tooth filling experience, that threat, so cherished by mothers all over the world, has been denied me.

But Mr. Drill is beside the point. This is about the Little Guy, his crying, and how He Who Can Do No Wrong has become Mr. Lack O’Focus. Mr. T.V. Addict. Mr. Weep E. Petulant.

Ever since the Little Guy has had to be at school and alert by 8 AM, he can’t seem to do anything, pre-academia, but sit in front of the TV totally unresponsive, eyes glazed, his mouth slack so that the cereal he manages to maneuver to his mouth every three minutes barely makes it to its hot-saliva demise. (I know what you’re thinking but Spongebob must sing in the Little Guy’s ear or there is no wakefulness whatsoever.) My efforts to get him moving fast enough to arrive at school before the bell rings has reduced him to tears more than twice, er thrice. Who am I kidding? This is the 4th week of school and he cries over something/nothing almost every morning.

Prior-to-school sobbing makes me testy (“if I made my kid cry than I must be a bad mom” --it’s just too early in the morning for that nonsense) then he gets tantrummy (Mom made me cry so she must not love me!) and our once harmonious relationship is reduced to something that resembles his soggy, uneaten Fruity Pebbles. In a word, gross. (Or there’s always this: if the early morning drama won’t do my kid in, the Fruity Pebbles will so why worry?)

Clearly, the child needs more sleep (and, oh my, so do I!). Since, all of our children have had sleep problems I am far from uninformed on the available strategies. However, the Little Guy has resisted each and every one of them. Eventually, the scales will tip, balance will be restored and the Little Guy will fall asleep earlier and wake up more capable of human behavior. In the meantime, I’ll be spending the pre-dawn hours (okay, so 6:30 just seems pre-dawn to me—or is it Breaking Dawn? Or Breaking Wind? How could Stephenie not see that one coming?) at Starbucks having a stiff cup of hot chocolate.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at Wednesday, September 17, 2008 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

7 wise, witty and wonderful comments

Those minutes before school are so so hard! I feel my blood pressure shooting up every weekday morning as the kids are later and later getting going. My husband's new rule is if they are not at the breakfast table by 7 they go to bed a half hour earlier. If it takes getting them to bed at 6 pm in order to make the mornings go better he is all for it! Your little guy is a doll btw!

September 17, 2008 at 7:10 PM

Just wait until the homework starts. Then it gets really ugly. Getting my number one through homework makes me long for a good getting-ready-for-school tantrum.

September 17, 2008 at 7:38 PM

Kazzy, I am glad to know I'm not the only one(and thanks about the doll remark--I always say, it's a good thing my kids are so darn good looking or they would be out on the curb with a packed bag) (or not) (about the bag part because who wants to pack them a bag when they act like that?) Melanie--I agree, homework is horrific! I have a 13 year old and it just amazes me how much homework she has to do! Yikes!

September 17, 2008 at 8:02 PM

I keep telling myself these adjustments are just because it's a transition to a full school day. All the other 1st graders I know are also being a tad emotional right now so I'm confident the morning feuds will end soon in our house. Of course I do seem to have vague memories of myself stomping through the house at 13 because I was mad my Mom wouldn't let me sleep in and miss school...

September 17, 2008 at 9:13 PM

Whoa! That sounds a lot like the 13 year old we have here . . . I can't even imagine you stamping around anywhere! Too funny!

September 17, 2008 at 9:24 PM

Oops, make that stomping not stamping.

September 17, 2008 at 9:45 PM

Well, no matter how early/late we get the kids to bed...they never want to get out of bed. Although Laurel LOVES going to school...but the 13 year old not so much!

BTW the little guy was SOOOO cute yesterday when I went to pick up Laurel and talk to Mrs. Huaco. I told him how I saw pictures of your garden and the handsome picture of him that I saw and he said 'Oh you mean on her blog?' Which cracked me up that a 6 year old knows what a blog is LOL! But then he was so sweet and said 'Did you color your hair? I like it.' Awww....such a sweet heart!! And so nice that he notices things! It's things like that, that help you forget the not so fun stuff!
Lisa

September 24, 2008 at 1:18 PM

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