So proud of Josiah...

He has a really hard time with meltdowns whenever something doesn't go his way. He spends a lot of time in his room due to this as it's hard to have him downstairs with the rest of us as I don't want anyone to get hurt. Anyway, we were outside playing in the backyard today after school and the kids were playing in the sandbox. With his boundary issues, it became apparent quickly that I was going to have to work the backyard like centers and so I told them that 2 could play in a sandbox at a time so nobody was going to get hurt. After a little while, they migrated all towards the sandbox at a similar time and I was able to see that maybe this would be do-able. They started to play and Josiah set to work making sandcastles. Emily wasn't really paying attention and knocked one of his castles down. Immediately I could see the total anger on his face and before I could say anything, he walked over to me and said "he was really angry and needed to sit with me for awhile." I immediately praised him for being such a big boy. He's never been able to do this before. Normally, he just reacts and someone is getting hurt. He sat with me for a few minutes and I rubbed his back and he was able to calm down. Emily apologized and I asked him if he wanted to go back and play or if he needed to sit for awhile longer. He said that his brain was still really mad so he just wanted to sit. A few minutes later, Emily apologized again and he said he was ready to go play again. I will admit that tears slid down my cheeks as I held him on my lap. I was SO proud that he was able to make that good choice and act like a big boy. I've been saying for a very long time that I think he's stuck in the 2 year old tantrum stage. He's going to be 6 in a couple of weeks. He is just so quick to tantrum over everything that doesn't go his way all of the time, that he can be very difficult sometimes and if I don't remove him from the situation someone is more than likely going to get hurt. Sometimes it only takes him a few minutes, other times it is a full fledge rage. Some of the things leave me shaking my head over what it could be about...it just seems so petty at times. However, I just keep praying and hoping and today gave me hope for the future and that things can get better. I am so proud of how well he's done today! Lord, please keep working on Josiah's heart and helping him learn to manage his anger so that nobody gets hurt. Thank You that he was able to acknowledge that he was angry and needed to take a time out for a few minutes. Amen.