The Fun Just Keeps Coming

A glimpse into the last 48 hours of my life:

Jackson's tantrums are going to be the death of me. Seriously, he just blatantly does not listen. The worst part is that my reaction feeds his behavior. I try so hard not to let things escalate, but sometimes I am just at a loss.

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This handy dandy picture might not seem like much, but it equates to $800 worth of parts and service we paid to repair our air conditioner. After an entire day of nearly unbearable heat, Jesse came home early and called a repairman. I'm so thankful we didn't buy a new dishwasher.

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This sweet girl has kept Jesse and I up for hours this week. After two consecutive nights of trying to soothe her screams (not cries or fussing, I mean screaming bloody murder), I took her to the pediatrician this morning. I thought it would be a quick, easy visit since Jesse was home with the kids and I had a 10:30 appointment. At 11:45, I had nearly lost my mind trying to entertain Amelia while we continued to wait. That is not a typo; we waited over an hour. When the doctor finally came in, she casually apologized for the wait and explained that the office was on lockdown due to a police chase. Final verdict: sweet baby girl has another ear infection. I was not the most polite or patient person and I believe the doctor took pity on us. She prescribed numbing drops for the ears to use on Amelia until the antibiotics kick in.

Angry Mom, Angry Son

We took advantage of open gym at the rec center today. The trio are getting harder to contain on whatever blankets I bring. They were occupied with toys I keep in the van, in addition to blocks and hula hoops that were available.

Jackson had fun riding the tricycle. He even used his feet to pedal most of the time.

In an effort to keep James and Amelia off of the gym floor, I sat them up and stacked blocks with them.

Jackson joined us and began building a tall tower.

All was happy in our little world, until two other preschool aged children came over.  A sweet little girl asked if she could build with us. Jackson, aka Mr. Antisocial, frowned and rode away on his tricycle. Of course, I welcomed her to join us. The other children and I played together while Jack rode around the gym.  This sweet girl worked so hard to build a tower taller than she was.  The next thing I know, Jackson came running over with both hands out and knocked her tower over!

I was mortified that my son would be such a bully. The poor girl was on the verge of tears when her mother came over to console her. I made my best effort to redirect Jackson calmly and get him to help me rebuild her tower. He refused. I felt so bad for the girl and I found myself making excuses for Jackson to the girl's mother.  "Somebody is ready for a nap" even though he hasn't napped in months. I hurriedly stacked the blocks then ran off to reprimand Jackson. At this point, he angrily yelled, "I knock over this, too!" He proceeded to knock over multiple tricycles. It became a free show for the parents. I felt like the other moms were just watching to see how I would handle the situation.  And I'm sure they thought Jackson was a brat. I thought he was.

I wanted to scream and pick him up and dramatically storm out of the gym. I learned my lesson in September that those actions don't work. I have three other children who can't walk that also need my attention. I rushed to put the babies in the stroller/Ergo. Jackson would NOT pick up the tricycles or blocks. I picked them up for him only because I wanted to get out asap. Jackson was calm enough to apologize to the girl, walk out, hold the door for me, and hold the stroller in the parking lot. It was as if nothing had happened.

Once we got to the van, it took everything in me not to throw him in his carseat and start screaming. Again, I've learned that yelling has the opposite effect with Jackson (and most everyone). I feel obligated to admit that as soon as all four kids were buckled in and the door was closed I grunted and yelled in the parking lot. How dare my son hurt other peoples feelings. I know the trio are just babies, but it wasn't fair to them that we had to leave because their brother was being ugly. Jackson's actions could have been worse, but that behavior is certainly not tolerated.

I decided leaving the gym early was enough of a consequence. Jackson had such remorse and kept apologizing and crying. Once home, I laid the babies down for their nap and Jackson and I baked a cake for my brother-in-law. At one point he put the measuring cup down and said, "I say sorry to you and you say sorry to me." He apologized again for knocking the tower over and he wanted me to apologize for making him cry. Oh dear...

Today was the first time I saw an angry, aggressive side of Jackson. I hope I don't see it much more!

DPK: Jackson the Runner

After a very low key day at home yesterday, I was ready to get out of the house today.  Once I picked Jack up from preschool, I let him choose our indoor adventure (mall, library, rec center, museum, or baking at home).  He quickly requested the museum.

The kids are pretty easy to manage when the babies are in the stroller.  Clearly the triplets can't go anywhere and Jackson is pretty good at following directions. I generally let Jackson take the lead in the museum and the babies and I follow him.  Now that the babies are becoming more interactive, I want them to have opportunities to play as well.  It's unfair to keep them confined in the stroller for hours when there are so many appropriate places for them to play.

Unfortunately, Jackson is in the habit of coming and going as he pleases.  He can no longer do that if I have all three babies on the floor.  I'm pretty fast, but it still takes a few minutes to pick up and buckle three babies in the mammoth stroller.  Jackson walked away three times today.  In his defense, the museum has an extremely open floor plan and he is used to wandering throughout the areas.  He wasn't being mischievous; he simply wasn't paying attention.  The final time resulted in another mom volunteering to "keep an eye on the babies" when I couldn't find him and had to literally search for him.  Yes, I embarrassingly became that mom who loses her kid in public.  Ugh!  I also became that mom who pulled her kid into a quiet corner and promised to leave immediately if he left my sight again.  He held onto the stroller the rest of the afternoon.

In spite of Jackson walking away, we all managed to have an enjoyable afternoon at the museum.  We spent a fair amount of time in the play restaurant where Jackson served us pizza and salad.  He accurately named every fruit and vegetable.

He insisted that all five of us eat some salad.  Amelia obliged.



I was really proud of Jackson's math skills.  I'm not sure if math just comes naturally to him or if he has learned that much from UmiZoomi.  Jackson was able to correctly answer 80% of my questions:

• How many slices of pizza do you have?
• How many slices of pizza do I have?
• How many slices do we have altogether?
• Does Jackson or Mommy have more pizza?
• How many more slices do you have? (He missed this one. Subtraction is a hard concept.)

Moving on...James became Jackson's patient in the doctor's office while the girls ate in the stroller.  James didn't care what Jackson did to him as long as his lunch was free from disruption.

Because James is our only sitter, he was able to do more things than the girls.  He drove the tractor and the fire truck.  And by "drove", I mean he licked the steering wheel.  Oops.

All three babies had a chance to play in the fitness center.  This area has a rock climbing wall, balance beams, and various equipment.  I was happy to find a completely secure and entertaining place for the babies to have tummy time. (Notice that I have to hold Maddie's hip and lower back to prevent her from automatically rolling over.)

Hopefully, Jackson will learn patience and give his siblings more opportunities to play so they can all have fun at the museum.

Superhero Party

Saturday was the long awaited birthday party for one of Jackson's favorite cousins/friends.  The party was a superhero theme, and we were encouraged to dress as our favorite superhero.  I desperately wanted a family picture of our cuteness but Jackson would NOT cooperate.  My sister-in-law unintentionally captured this video of Jackson's outburst while trying to take a picture of the six of us.  How will I ever survive three toddlers?  Sigh...

At least we captured a decent shot with the babies.

Despite Jack's ridiculous tantrums, he had a blast.  It was hard to get any pictures of him as he was constantly running around the church gymnasium.

The kids were able to decorate their own capes, roll around on scooters, and eat pizza.  The best entertainment came from a gigantic Spiderman balloon.  There were several children of various ages that chased, wrestled, and bounced Spiderman until they were all on the floor giggling.  Then they got back up and played again. And again and again....

Jackson was equally excited about the awesome cake.



My mother-in-law bought matching shirts (on clearance) for my sister-in-law and I.  I can't tell you how many posts and messages I've read from other women venting about their in-laws.  I certainly lucked out in this department and am so blessed to have gained a sister and mom by marrying Jesse.  We are all superwomen and supermoms, indeed!

It was a great party with great family!