The joys of motherhood....sigh!

Every night before bed we get out Cole's clothes for the day and discuss what he will eat for breakfast. For a 3 year old he KNOWS what he wants or doesn't want. Most days, this works. NOT TODAY! After an already late hectic morning we arrive at day care. We rush in with the dog waiting in the car, I sit Cole down and produce his blueberry muffins that he requested the night before (after making a special trip to the grocery store yesterday) and the screaming, no wait SCREECHING began. He wanted pancakes. I tried to reason (yeah, with a 3 year old, don't know what I was thinking), I begged, I pleaded, I bargained (pancakes for dinner) nothing worked. There were two other moms and two daycare teachers watching (the mom's secretly relieved it wasn't their kid). Finally, I walked away, while he SCREECHED "MOMMMMMMMM...MMMYYYYY" (did I mention he was screeching?). And, because I'm a wussy parent, I made it to the front door and turned back. I picked him up from his chair (nicely, remember I had an audience) and took him to the room next door to try to calm him down. Finally, after he stopped sobbing enough to hear me, I promised pancakes for dinner and gave him a choice to go back to his class or sit up front with another teacher. No, he wanted to go to work with me. I reminded him Bullet (the dog) was in the car and I needed to go. WHOOPS, bad mommy, bad...now he REALLY wanted to go to work to help me with Bullet. Finally, I handed him to the teacher up front where he collapsed on the floor in tears. I took a deep breath and left. The poor dog was sitting in the driver's seat when I got to the car and wouldn't move at that point I was about ready to scream myself (luckily the dog moved). I hate mornings like that. The stress of being at work late and the stress of seeing your child in a screaming puddle on the floor is enough to drive a sane person crazy.

When I picked Cole up this afternoon, his teacher reassured me he cried only for several minutes after I left and the rest of day went well. He is a smart kid and I know he only does those things to challenge me. On mornings, I am more awake and prepared, I have lies....oh wait....excuses handy (the latest was after arriving at daycare and wanting a dougnut from the grocery store, I said it was closed because a car crashed into the window (he is facinated with cars and crashing) the next day he was amazed the "winnow was all fixed up"). I know, I know you should never lie to your kids but it works much better than saying "we dont' have time", etc.

So, back to the pancakes...did Cole ever get them?...You bet, the wussy parent took him to IHOP for dinner before the gym. He 2 entire pancakes and has leftovers for the morning (I know now he'll want muffins). He was funny and charming at dinner. He "tooted" real loud and when I reminded him to say excuse me, he replied "that wasn't a toot, it was a train's whistle". Oh, a laugh is what I needed!