LIFE'S TOUGH LESSONS

Off and on up until this past Sunday Mimi has been quite sassy. We went toe to toe on many occassions. There must be something going on, there is something most definitely in the air. According to the other moms in Mimi's class they too have been going toe to toe with their kids. Maybe it's just that they are all 6 year olds and trying to test their limits. Who knows??? As a result I told Mimi that she was to have no playdates after school last Monday. That was the punishment for her " I can do whatever I want and I don't have to listen to you!!!" attitude and roll her eyes at me like I have STUPID writtten on my forehead. As a result, this past weekend it was Braden's 4th birthday and Shelley had made quite a bit of cupcakes to take to the park Monday after school. Mimi was invited to join them. I so wanted to go as I do enjoy adult conversations now and then but then on the other hand I thought to myself "what am I teaching her by making empty threats???" "That it is ok for mom to tell me my punishment and then not have her not follow through. WOW! I can bamboozle her into anything!!!"I tell you it was really hard as a parent to follow through. Mimi cried and cried that she wanted to go to Braden's party but I stuck to my guns so to speak. Then true to Northwest weather, it started to rain right along with the thunder and lightening which did not make Mimi's crying any easier. Yesterday Mimi was right back to being such an angel. No sassiness whatsoever.

Today started off beautifully. Mimi, Blake and I went to our local McDonald playland for lunch. Then Blake said that he wanted to walk to school with us. Ok that was fine. We stopped at home to pick up Butch and Mimi's backpack. Since Halle lives across the street from us, Mimi wanted to see if she too would like to walk along with us. She did. So there I was walking with Mimi, Blake, Halle and Butch. Then Ollie our cat decided that he too wanted to tag along. EGADS! Walking 3 kids and a dog on a leash is not bad but a cat! Ollie caused quite a stir with the kindergarten kids waiting to get in. I finally made it home in one piece and my sanity intact. Then it was time to go out to do some errands such as gassing up my car and buying grandma a birthday present. Next thing I knew it was time to pick Mimi up from school. This time I thought that I would leave Butch at home. Ollie on the other hand still decided to follow me to school again. YIKES! We all made it home safely. Then all of the kids wanted to go to Erin's for a playdate. Janet said that it was fine with her. I said that I would come to to help out as there was 7 kids vs 2 adults. Things were going fine until Janet said that the kids could play with the kiddie garden tools. That was when they started running around the backyard with them. I had told Mimi 3 times not to run with or swing the tools around. I did not see it happen but somehow Mimi's hand shovel met up with Halliwell's head. Fortunately it was not serious and there was no blood drawn. That was when I had Mimi tell Halliwell that she was sorry and also had her say good-bye to her friends and marched her (who by this time was crying herself) home. We had a long and I mean long talk about what she had done. Next I had her call Halliwell to appologize again and I spoke with Brandy about what had happened. I really love being a parent but it is soooo darn exhausting at times. Sigh. Almost forgot to mention that when I was home cooking dinner, I got a phone call from Zoe to come over to her house and get Ollie who was climbing their fence trying to get in and causing a ruckus with their Pugle "Rex". Ollie is not afraid of any dog whatsoever and I could hear the barking and yelping in the background. When I got there, Shelley said that Ollie had follwed them all the way home from the park next to Erin's house. EGADS! I tell you, there is never ever a dull moment around our place.