Today I experienced one of the worst moments in my entire time as a Mother! Aaron got invited to a birthday party, yay! We love birthday parties! So we went to pick out a gift, no big deal right? Wrong! It turned into the biggest childhood tantrum this poor Wal-mart has ever seen. I explained to Aaron he could pick out a gift in the $5 range. He wanted to buy a transformer, but he didn't care for the $5 ones. No, those just wouldn't do. He wanted to buy the $16 set that came with two transformers! As we walked toward the cashiers he followed me, clutching the $16 toys while big tears streamed down his little cheeks. Now at this point I'm frustrated, but it also broke my heart because he wanted to buy his friend "The Better" toy and he really didn't understand why we couldn't do that.
Well, it gets worse, a lot worse!
I paid for the smaller, $7, (but still really cool) toy. And then I pryed the $16 dollar toy from his tightly gripped fingers and handed it back to the cashier. That's when he took off, running mind you, back to the toy section. So I followed him, with Rebekah and Moriah still in the shopping cart (thankfully). He had collected another $16 toy which I grabbed from him and threw on the floor. Then I picked him up and sat him on Bekah's lap, (she was in the seat of the shopping cart). As I tried to manuver my way out of the store - half pushing a cart, half holding a squirming 5 year old I wondered how I was going to make it to the van, locate my keys and then get home.
Well, it gets worse again, a lot worse!
At this point a helpful Wal-Mart employee, (she looked like a grandmother who had seen this type of tantrum before) helped me by pushing my cart while I carried him all the way to the van! As soon as I put him down he ran away! I ran after him. I put him in the van, tried to get the girls in and while I was doing that he ran away again! This time the helpful employee ran after him and yelled to a passing customer, "Stop THAT Boy!" This time I turned off the sliding van door openers and she attempted to stand guard at his door, but he was too quick and he ran to the other side of the van and escaped...Again!
I'm in tears, I had kept it together to this point, but now all bets were off! My mascara was running, I was bawling! How was I going to get home? The employee put Rebekah and Moriah in the van while I got him in the van. As I tried to strap him in I told him to forget about the birthday party! AND that we would be calling Dad as soon as we got home. As huge sobs errupted from my chest the employee reassured me I was doing a good job...and reminded me to breathe! (This sweet lady will be getting a HUGE thank you card from me and I'll make sure the manager knows about her good deed.) Well, in order to get out of that parking lot without another escape she had to stand guard as I backed up. Aaron refused to sit down and strap in, (which wasn't a huge deal since we live right around the corner) but when I pushed on the gas, he fell back - right on the $7 transformer and new crayons I had purchased. Now he's crying even harder (if that was possible), he crushed the new toy's packaging and there were crayons everywhere!
Here's where it gets better.
After getting the kids inside I promptly dialed Mike's work number, ring, ring...voicemale! Ugggghhhh! I left a somewhat frantic message then sent Aaron to his room. Time to get Moriah out of her car seat. Ring Ring! Hopefully that's Mike! It was, and I recited the events of the last 20 minutes. Aaron got on the phone and explained to his Dad what he did. Then I got on the phone. A few minutes later I heard some bustling in Aaron's room. I went to check on him expecting to see a bigger mess, (he tears his room apart when he's upset). Well, instead of a mess, I caught him cleaning up his room! I was already crying, but now I burst into a totally different kind of tears as he said in his little voice, "I'm cleaning up my room because I want to make you happy." I passed the phone to Aaron so he could tell his Dad about his sudden change in attitude while I composed myself.
He really is a good kid! And I made sure he heard me tell Mike that on the phone and then I made sure to tell him that like 8 more times! He's a very sweet boy who wanted to buy the best toy for his friend. It's hard to understand why us parents say "NO" so much, but sometimes we have to. We had a good talk and came to an agreement. If he could remain on his BEST behavior all day, then he could go to the party. BUT he was definitely grounded from the store again. This time for 2 months. This wasn't his first tantrum in Wal-Mart.
(He did this once before when I was 7 months pregnant with Mo.) Guess What? It's hard to run when you're pregnant!
Our Not-So-Little Family
