Mom v. the Strong Willed Chilled, episode 8567
I would be remiss if I did not point out to the world that TODAY, yes TODAY is the day is the day I won a battle with an 8 year old. We shall record it for all of history, here in blog-land.

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We come home after church and a trip to Target. Not sure what it is about the time either before or after Sunday service that makes family interactions so difficult. But it does.

Anywho, I tell Nate to practice his guitar. 30 minutes. I remember the EXACT moment. It was 3:58 p.m. I told him he would be done at 4:28 p.m. He replied, "Buuuutttttt Mommmmmmmmm! You only make me practice for 20 minutes!" Whatever!

Then he said "I'LL be through at 4:18 p.m."

To which I replied "OK, 4:35"

"Buuuuuuuuttttt Mommmmmmmmm!"

"OK, 4:40!"

"Buuuuuuuuttttt Mommmmmmmmmmmm!"

"OK, 4:45!"

So by know no doubt you have recognized a pattern. This went on until it was going to be over an hour. Nathan finally started to practice but was unable to stop mouthing off. Then he told me "his finger hurt". I told him to take his guitar off, and go to his bed. I was ever so calm about this.

He goes up stairs. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! all the way up. So I very calmly said "Nathan, please come downstairs". I'm sure he thought he'd won and he came downstairs all smug. That's when I told him "you may go upstairs the right way, no stomping!"

So, I sent the kid off to time out, but was the time out really for him or more for me? I unloaded the dishwasher and took deep breaths in and out.

I finally told him that, if he could come downstairs and practice his guitar for 30 minutes, he was welcome to come back downstairs. He came downstairs and started to practice. My mother called, because we were going over there to eat ice cream. She asked to speak to Nathan and I told him he could speak with her ever so briefly because he was practicing. So then he asked me what ever so briefly meant and I said speak to your grandmother quickly.

I swear to God, he gets on the phone and tells Grandma I sent him to time out because he had a sore finger and couldn't practice the guitar.

You have never seen a phone yanked away from a child so quickly. I explained to him (with Grandma listening) that if he didn't know why was he was in time out, he should go back and spend some time contemplating his offense.

Back to time out. A while later, again, told him he could come downstairs if he could practice his guitar for 30 minutes.

He comes downstairs and starts to practice.

I swear to God, I walk past him and the kid is wearing a sign around his neck that says
"don't talk to me!"

I had to walk out on my patio because I was laughing so hard. Tears were streaming down my face. Then I went into my bedroom and fashioned my own sign, which said
"I'm not talking to you!"

And I waited.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, he started talking to me.
"Mom!" "Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"
"Mom, why are you ignoring me???"

He finally caught on to the fact I had a sign around my neck. He read it, and immediately removed the sign from his neck. Then, about an hour and a half after we started guitar practice, he practiced his guitar for 30 minutes. Score.

-Robyn...damn, I forgot to get trash bags at the grocery store.



- posted by Robyn @ 10:37 PM