If You Were Sorry...

(Finish that sentence, Mom!)

Last week was a GREAT week with Big A. Perhaps it was my realization that he's not perfect and never will be (nor would I TRULY want him to be) or maybe it was the fact that he and I did a lot more together last week and both with new attitudes... Who knows, but whatever it was we had a great week.

This week (granted, it's only Monday) has gotten off to a rough start. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the kids were up late last night with Grandma and Grandpa as they are most Sundays but maybe it has to do with the fact that Big A is a five year old boy... Again, who knows!

This afternoon B was going to take the kids to feed the ducks but Big A was having a really difficult time cooperating. B told Big A that if he had to talk to him one more time while they were trying to get out of the house, he was going to have to stay home. I had to run upstairs to get something and on my way up I noticed that Big A was scarping magnets on the front door. I asked him to please stop scraping the door and he scraped it again. I asked him again to please stop and as he did I said, "You're driving me crazy!"

Big A yelled back at me, "YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY!" (In retrospect, I probably deserved that... But he's FIVE!) That was the final straw. I had him sit down and wait for me and when I came back downstairs we talked about what had happened. He knew exactly why he was in trouble ("Because I talked back.") and then I was forced to follow through with what B had told him. I told Big A that he couldn't go with B and Little A to feed the ducks.

He was pretty upset and of course tears ensued, but he quickly got over it... Or so it seemed. A few minutes later he said to me, "Mommy, if you were sorry you would let me go feed the ducks."

I had to turn away to not let him see my laughter... I guess he DOES hear me (kind of) when I use the old mom cliche... "IF YOU WERE SORRY, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT!"