Ryan hates to get up and go to school in the morning. Once he's there he has a good time and he enjoys it, but we often battle in the morning. He tells me he doesn't want to go to school and I tell him that isn't an option, then we spend the next 45 minutes with him throwing a fit and me trying to get him out the door. I've been trying to reason with him and tell him that if he doesn't go to school he has to spend the entire day in him room, only leaving to go potty. No TV, no bike, no soccer, no video games, no CD's, etc. Well yesterday he called my bluff and decided he wanted to do just that.
I figured it's better to learn this lesson now, while in Pre-K, but I wasn't looking forward to the day. He started out the day in bed, gloating, thinking he'd won. He was content to be in his room, smiling, telling me he loved me. Then the reality hit. At 11 the first fit occured and there were lots of tears and talk of being bored. He cried himself to sleep and woke up telling me he wanted to go somewhere, but not school because it's boring. My response was nope, sorry, you made your choice and now you have to live with the consequences. Makenna and I ate lunch with him in his room and then left him alone again, at which point he realized it was sunny out. Another fit ensued, he thought it was a nice day and wanted to be outside riding his bike. More tears and more of me saying "I'm so sorry, it's such a bummer you can't go out and play. Some times it's hard to live with your choices isn't it?" Poor kid, thought he was getting sympathy from me, until he realized I wasn't going to let him go out. About midafternoon I went in again while Makenna was napping. We had a snack, read some books and then talked about the day and how hard it was. Again he thought that meant he was done in his room, so as I was leaving a bunch more tears. I thought there would be a point where he would start throwing things in his room, slamming the door, anything to make me angry. It never happened, just lots of whining and crying. At 5 I finally gave in. We chatted again, at which point he told me school was way more fun. So he was tasked with cleaning his room and then told he could come out and have dinner with the family.
This morning was great. He hopped up and said he was ready for school. Listened to everything the first time, was in a good mood and didn't give me grief about anything. When we were in line waiting to drop off he said "I'm glad I get to go to school today"
So, the battle was won but somehow I think the war has just begun. Time will tell, but for now I'm going to enjoy the stress free mornings!
As a side note, by the end of the day I couldn't decide if I was a really good parent for sticking to my guns, or a really bad parent for even suggesting that such a day could happen. A reminder to me that I have to be willing to follow through with consequences.
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