We had a meltdown moment at bedtime with Pete. He wanted to bring one of Teddy's Pokemon Mangas (from the library) to bed with him and we told him no. He got so upset with us that he told us he didn't want Mommy or Daddy covering him and he didn't want any kisses.
"Ok, baby," I told him. "If you don't want us to cover you and give you hugs and kisses, that's ok. We understand. But I am a little sad without my kisses."
I gave Teddy his kisses and as I was straightening up, Peter said, "I do want cover with bun bo (Spongebob) and huds and tisses. Mommy, cover me?" So I went up, covered him and gave him his kisses. Didn't make a big deal about it or anything else.
It's a big deal for me because today had been a stressful day on a lot of levels. And usually when things are stressful, I'll have a much shorter temper. And that has a tendency to make me snappish when the kids give me a hard time about things. But tonight, it just seemed natural to let Pete make the decision on what he wanted when it comes to bedtime.
I need to keep remembering this. I need to remind myself that anger never works and, usually, if I give the kids a chance to calm down a bit, they'll come around to my way of thinking. And that sometimes, I don't need them to see things my way.
You'd think that after 5 years, I'd have learned this. But I guess I'm still learning too.
And a lot less fun than the other options.
