So a mix of good and bad to write about. Let's get the bad out of the way. Friday was just about the worst number of hours our family has gone through (although these are certainly in the running,
here,
here and
here.)
I picked the boys up from school per usual and things immediately went downhill. Silas was crying when i got there because two parents had come just before i arrived and he was upset that each one wasn't his mommy. Henry started misbehaving right away, running away from me, not heading up to the car etc. His interplay with Silas seems key to this afternoon going awry. I was irritated and trying to be authoritative which backfired-- on me of course.
I finally *wrestled* them both into their car seats and Silas proceeded to cry strongly the entire way home. Henry was upset too and kept telling Silas to be quiet. No attempts on my part to distract with music or sightings of trains worked at this point.
When we got home i attempted to "reset" the mood-- at least with Henry by apologizing for getting upset and saying that i was hoping we could start over now that we were home. Silas stopped crying and i thought things were looking up. Then we got out of the car and Henry purposely started stomping on the crocuses. I told him to go inside for a time out and he lost it. He stayed lost for approximately 1.5 hours.
Soon thereafter Silas also fell apart. He wanted crackers, he didn't want crackers, he wanted crackers, NO, NO, NO. At this point he also began sobbing and screaming hysterically.
For the next hour and a half JT and i each had one child on a different level of the house alternately disciplining, distracting, or comforting them. Nothing seemed to work and then as suddenly as the storm came it left. By about 7 both boys were happily playing after finally eating some semblance of dinner. JT and i just looked at each other shell-shocked.
In the midst of everything i called Brenda to find out if something happened at school. All she could come up with was that Silas did get upset waiting for me to pick them up and Henry didn't nap. She said there were only 5 of them there that day so they got plenty of attention and she didn't think anything escaped her notice. She even called back to check about an hour later after she had talked to her sister. Thankfully we were doing better by then.
Now that some time has past i think Silas was reaching a peak of his start (gulp) of the terrible twos. He wants what he wants when he wants it and he just lost the ability to calm himself down. I also think that Henry is sensitive to Silas and feeds off the negative or positive energy he exudes. Henry also seems more... threatened, challenged (?) by Silas now that he's becoming a "big boy" himself. We're trying to set aside more special time for Henry and have been emphasizing the good parts of their relationship to one another.
The upside was that every upset since this nuclear attack has seemed mild in comparison.
And now i'm about out of time. Easter was very nice. The boys woke me up Sunday morning and did a little egg hunt to find their easter baskets. They happily explored the contents (which i'll admit was a little practical this year) and then we headed over to Tiffany and Mike's for Easter brunch and an egg hunt. All the kids had fun finding the eggs but we were nice enough to give the littlest ones a head start.
Henry in particular had a great time and told me that he wanted Mario Race Cart for his birthday and a real fish tank. We talked about how he could have a fish tank when he was a little older and he said "yes, when i'm 8." He also told me that Tiffany could buy it for him when he's 8 so if you're reading this you're on notice :)
We're knee-deep in preparations for the boys "ill-timed" pirate party and a visit from Oma and Opa. I hope to have lots more to report and pictures up next week.
