Mommy-Jack Playdate

Jackson and I have been butting heads a LOT lately. This is the first time I've witnessed him be intentionally defiant. We'll say "no" or "stop" very clearly and repeat it several times, but he keeps doing whatever he's doing. He'll ask, "One more time, okay?" as if we're negotiating a deal. It's never anything malicious or harmful, but it's the principle of him not listening and respecting what we say.

Yesterday Jack spent most of speech therapy in time out after pushing his siblings down, putting a train in the toilet, and taking an object from James after we had been working on getting James to sign "more". These spontaneous behaviors are so immature and frustrating.

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Jackson and I were supposed to meet friends at the park this afternoon after Jesse got home from his training. The park is only a few minutes from our house, but it has been under a complete renovation for the past month. Jackson was so excited about our park playdate and asked if he could bring his friends popsicles. He was dressed and ready to go as soon as Jesse got home. Once Jesse was home, Jackson changed his mind and didn't want to go. We went back and forth for a while, then he decided he did want to go. When we arrived at the park, our friends had already left. (I didn't expect them to still be there since it was so hot.)

If our friends had been at the park, Jackson would have played with the kids and I would have talked to the moms. I probably wouldn't have even interacted with Jackson. Us being so late was a blessing in disguise. Jackson and I made up games to play. We pretended to be superheroes and tried not to touch the ground at all. He was silly and fun. (Katie, do you remember climbing on the bedroom furniture so we wouldn't touch the floor?)

I didn't realize how much I needed an hour of fun where I could give Jackson uninterrupted, positive attention. It is so, so hard meeting the needs of four unique kids, especially when all four of them are testing boundaries in different ways. This mothering business is not an easy job!