Rough day...

Today was a really rough day. I had to keep Emma home from school as she had a doctor's appt. Melina was really fussy and crying and wanting this or that and getting frustrated as I didn't always know what she was wanting or she couldn't have what she wanted (candy). We left about 8:30 to get to the doctor. Got her refill and thankfully the girls were really good while we were there. We left and as I was getting the kids in the van, my cell phone rang and it was the principal needing to talk to me about Josiah. I called her back and had to leave a message and I told her I was on the way to bring Emmy to school and I'd talk to her when I got there. Ran home first as Emmy forgot her backpack. Got to school and signed Emma in and then Tracie, Melina and me went to talk to the principal. Josiah had accidentally stepped on a little girl's hand and it broke her nail. When she said "ow" he found it funny and turned around and purposefully stomped on her other hand. It tore the fingernail and it was bleeding all over. I told her that Deidra had told me about that the night before and he was put in time out over it, but she said that he was going to be in Refocus (in-school suspension) for the rest of the day. I don't know if he really understood why he had to do that since it happened as they were leaving school and getting on the bus the day before. Anyway, that was the plan they went with and I wasn't upset that they put him there. I wasn't going to punish him again for it at home though as he already did his punishment from me the night before.

I ran Tracie to school a little later and Melina was trying to go to sleep in the car. I had needed to run to Walmart to get something for dinner, but she was acting so tired I thought she needed a nap a little more and we'd go to the store later. She took a pretty big nap and woke up just before it was time to get Tracie from school. We ran to get Tracie from school, came home to snag Emma and Josiah so we could go get Deidra from tutoring. For some reason, they thought they were going on a walk with Grandma with the dog (nevermind that I had already told Grandma before Melina and I left what the plan was) and so when I told them they needed to come with me Josiah threw a fit and tried to run away from me. I finally got him in the van and he proceeded to scream and kick the seat in front of him. I got Deidra and he wanted to go get french fries for snack. I told him that little boys who acted like that, don't get special treats like french fries and he'd have to wait until we got home to get a snack. He started thrashing all over the place and screaming and kicking his feet all over. It got so bad that I had to pull over on the side of the road and when he wouldn't quit I threatened to call the police. That actually scared Tracie more than it scared him. She was scared that they would take him away and he wouldn't have a family. I told her that they will always be a part of our family, that WILL NEVER change, but he needs to learn how to control his temper and that these huge fits can't happen when I'm trying to drive down the road either as that puts the family in danger of an accident so I needed to pull over. Once we got through all that, he continued to scream and kick. I finally told him that if he was going to act like this that he was going to go straight in his room and he was going to earn more and more minutes each time he screamed or kicked something. We got to 45 minutes of bedroom time before he chose to get control of himself (we start with 5 minutes and go up from there). We ran to Walmart to get the stuff I needed for dinner and his fits continued in there and I wound up with him throwing a fit and knocking tomatoes onto the ground. I finally told him he was in his room until I finished dinner and then he could come down for dinner. We had more fits in the van on the way home and it was hard to get him into his room, but we managed. Of course, he was mad that all his toys couldn't stay in his room and he kept kicking the walls and the door. He refused to eat his dinner and so he got sent back up to his room to go to bed early and couldn't eat dessert which set him off again. He's had allergies going on too and I really think he was overtired, but he didn't want to give in and just rest. It all became a manipulation tactic to get out of his room, "I need a drink. I need to go to the bathroom. I need to blow my nose. I want my toys. I want you to cover me up." Whatever he could think of. I let him out to use the bathroom and to blow his nose, but I wasn't playing his games and that made him even madder.

Andy had to stay after work to do moves and so he was late getting home. I was trying to get hoemwork done with Emma with a screaming baby and a little girl who couldn't stop whining and crying. I finally sent Tracie to bed about a half an early as well because she couldn't stop her crying and whining over every little thing either. She got mad that I told her if she was going to act like a baby, she needed to go to bed early like a baby too. She screamed and yelled that she wasn't a baby and that she wasn't going to go to bed. UGH!

I got really tired and achey feeling and didn't know whether I was trying to get the crud too or if it was just due to the stress of the day. Andy finally came home a little before 7:30 and I was glad to see him. I went to bed later. I was a little miffed that with my MIL living here that she really didn't help much and she had heard me say that I wasn't feeling well and was burned out. I told Andy that I didn't feel well, but didn't know if I was getting sick or just stressed. She says "well, with the day you've had it wouldn't surprise me if it was just stress." Well, thanks for noticing but choosing not to help me out. I know I shouldn't have that attitude, but it gets tiresome sometimes.