It’s risky. Me writing this late in the day. The caffeine that gave me the pleasant perk of the morning is long gone. The chipper moods of the kids have changed to cranky, while my energy level slowly sinks with the setting sun. What makes me think I have the wherewithal to write now? Then again, what makes me think I have the wherewithal to write at all on any given day?
Tonight, right now, I write as an outlet. I need an outlet. Don’t we all need outlets of some sort? Typically, my outlet consists of the delicious dairy delight called ‘ice cream’. However, because I am determined to be ice cream free for 40 days, I do not want to pacify myself with the frozen delicacy. So, I write. [Day 8, by the way. I’ve gone 8 days so far.]
Today, when I picked up my oldest from Kindergarten, his teacher informed me he had an ‘incident’. Seems my child became upset about something, and he threw a peppercorn at one of the teachers. Sports aside, throwing something at someone is not acceptable. Now, add to the fact that the peppercorn thrown by my child got stuck in the teacher’s ear, and well my child did not win any awards today. It’s a shame the “Peppercorn Toss” was last week.
My oldest has a temper. I have written about his temper in previous posts. And, as I have also mentioned previously, he gets his temper from me. My reaction to his behavior today was embarrassment at first. After quickly overcoming the embarrassment, I was sad. A temper is a horrible waste of energy, and the damage that a temper can cause is extensive. I don’t want a temper filled life for either of my boys. And, I hope this isn’t an indication of things to come.
I remind myself that my son is only five years old, as if there is an acceptable age to throw things. I tell myself that the art of peppercorn tossing is underrated. And, I doubt my son would be able to throw the peppercorn in the teacher’s ear, if he were to try again. Unless she is a TWEOUS, Teachers with ears of unusual size. But I digress. Oh, and before I forget, the peppercorn was successfully removed from the TWEOUS’ ear.
My son was punished for throwing the peppercorn. When we came home from school, he went to his room, where he spent the rest of the day. And, he wrote a letter to the teacher saying he was sorry for what happened. He lost a few other privileges as well, in hopes we drove the point home, without throwing him for a loop. (HA! Sorry, a little throw humor.)
The hardest part about tonight was my son’s frustration, once home. Upset he was banished to his room, he took the opportunity to yell a little, cry a little and pound a little. Okay, okay, so he did all of the above more than just a little. The thing that got me was his yelling, “Why don’t you love me?” “Why don’t you like me?” He was breaking my heart. And again, I remind myself he is only five years old. Wait. Five years old?! Why is he saying stuff like this at five years old? Where’s the ice cream. I need some ice cream.
After supper, things started settling down, well things settled some, okay things settled a little – okay fine, the banished one was still upset. I phoned a friend, and I started to tell her about my day. When I mentioned what the banished one had done, she laughed and said, “Oh, just wait. You’ll be able to laugh about this soon.” Then I heard crying on her end of the phone, causing her to ask “What happened?” She let me know that one of her kids had just kicked the other kid. And, we laughed. Laughter sure beats ice cream, at least calorically speaking. Peppercorns anyone?
Lenore's Thoughts Exactly 