Get With My Program

Oh my little bug a boo is growing up. Becoming quite the little boy, all with his own opinions, ideas, desires and wants. These are normal and positive things the articles tell me.....until they fly in the face of what you are trying to accomplish, even when those items to some degree aren't really a big deal in the spectrum of life.

With his independent stubbornness rearing it's head, I find myself in my head shouting out - GET WITH THE PROGRAM LOGAN aka MY program. All the meanwhile taking a deep breath, trying to politely smile at him and exert a calm voice that is clear in instruction and explanation......and of course, repeated several times because we are in the phase of everything has to be repeated - namely by him but apparently also by me, because he won't just.....get with my program. 

One of the big ones as of late has been the car seat. Logan get in your seat.

NO! I don't want to! He says. Then gives me the look of - what are you going to do.

After 2 more times of this round table, I fight the urge (in a southern old school black mama's voice)to tell him I am going to beat him like a red headed step child if he doesn't get in the car seat.) And as the little angel side of my conscious whispers in my ear - remember you want to see if you can actually do this raising/discipline without spanking idea....... I take another breath. This is just about getting him to sit in the seat - this is not the end of the world.

BUT I HAVE TO GET TO WORK AND I AM LATE! Says the pissed off side of my conscious.

I close my eyes and count to three. Logan - mommy has to get to work, she's late, let's go, I don't have time for this.

Noooooo, he says.

At that moment I am done --> NOW!

Ok so then depending on the day - he either gets in his seat or it turns into a game of - can you catch me in the car mommy first? Cause I have an SUV that he has found to be quite thrilling to jump over the back seat, roll around in the back, and do this over and over. This is just one of a few scenarios, but the idea is all the same.

And as the concept of this post was mulling over my head originally, I so happened to be in the office on a conference call with my boss, who has an older daughter now in high school and of driving age. In the middle of the call, her cell rings - it's her daughter, to which she steps to the doorway. And as I am partially paying attention to the conference call, I am also eavesdropping on hers, to which I hear: What do you mean you are leaving? You can't just leave. Well did you tell anyone? What do you mean you got a red slip? you don't have an open campus. You can't just leave......well.....and then a minute later the conversation ended with - call me when you get home. It's those moments that as I sat there over hearing this and half trying to compose myself from laughing, I reflected on the state of where I was at. Here I am - I can't get Logan to just get IN his car seat, and here she is - her daughter is just randomly driving away from school....and she is completely powerless to stop it.

WOW - I got a long long road ahead of me. And I need to step up my mental chess game. Although I doubt that will help me one day when Logan calls me to tell me he decided he just had enough of that day and was going home to watch some TV and play a video game. If I am lucky, he will be in sports and hopefully in season where I can use the leverage of, you know you can't play in your game tomorrow if you leave right? But if he is anything like me, he will be smart enough to pull that crap like the week after the season is over.......