Unexpected delights..

Six trips around the sun has finally brought out the more shall we say, “independent” side of my little wingman. He has moments of showing that he is starting to not need momma’s help with tasks he always sought me for. He has begun to master his HILARIOUS sense of humor and is witty beyond his years. The shenanigans are endless and this kid can throw down some zingers.

Well, let’s just say that, of late, I have been “momming” so hard. Having the freedom of being schooled from home comes with necessary boundaries. It is easy to get distracted by the animals that live with us in our residential zoo. It is easy to take unnecessary bathroom breaks to avoid the task at hand. It is easy to become distracted and fall off the task train. I find myself repeatedly informing my little wingman to “stay task focused”. He will even finish my sentence for me, it is said so frequently. We are desperately working to connect that just saying it by finishing my sentences is very different than actually following through on it! I often remind myself that he is 6, and this is a marathon not a sprint, sigh. With distraction comes corrective action which lends to his defensive reactions, which then of course leads to a need for an attitude adjustment. And the circle of acting like a turd and being corrected continues.

Enter my “momming” so hard. After 3 days of the circle of correction, I finally lost my “you know what”. I was done with his back talk, so I told him to “beat street” and head to his room. He somehow knew better than to stomp up the stairs this time, and instead of fighting me, he quietly moved to his room. I gave myself a couple minutes to get my crap together and gather some emotional intelligence before I verbally decimated my 6 year old. He was sitting on his bed, looking like Ferdinand the Bull, just waiting for my wrath. I sat down and calmly (wooosaaaa) explained to him that he was grounded from anything that plugs in. Youtube? Gone. Netflix? Gone. SportCenter? Gone. Fire Tablet? Gone. I actually had to list out all of the possible electronics he was grounded from. I may or may not have dramatically ripped the cord out from the TV and took the remote in the process. A little dramatic but he got the point.

He did ask me how long he was “grounded” and if I was throwing away the remote, but otherwise got the picture that he doesn’t get the privilege of electronics when he has a bad attitude about his responsibilities.

Let me get to the best part, the part that inspired me to purge about him. Since his grounding, he has been forced to either read or play independently, and he has done both, surpassing anything I could have imagined.

I was getting ready for work the other morning, and Nugs informed me that he was heading out to the backyard with the dogs to play for a bit before school started. He was out there for about 10 minutes before I decided to peek out the back window to check on him. I giggle as I type this, thinking about what I witnessed. He was up at the shed in the back of the yard, standing behind a short shepard’s crook, that we use to hang flower baskets. He had a piece of wood that was laying in the curve of the hook. I could tell that he was having a full on conversation, sometimes directing it towards the dogs, but otherwise he was just chatting up a storm with himself. I opened a window and asked him what he was doing to which he replied “nothing”. I said that it looked like he was doing something, and he then said, “oh, yeah. This is my motorcycle and this piece of wood is the handlebar, Im just pretending to drive my motorcycle, mom.” My heart literally almost exploded as I was overwhelmed with the beauty of his innocence, imagination and just how stinkin cute he is. I told him how much I loved him and to have fun and went back to getting ready. He proceeded to run in to finish telling me what else he was doing out there. He said that the reason he loves being outside with the dogs is because he pretends that he is a Puma and our puppy is his cub, and that our other dog is a coyote. He explained that when the dogs wrestle, he chases them around and pretends they are the battling animals.

This friggin kid. I can’t possible describe the overwhelming love, joy and hilarity that he brings on the reg. It has been almost 2 weeks since I grounded him, and I’m not sure I want to unground him. Not only has his imagination returned and blossomed, his attitude has left and his innocence at 6 years is shining.

“What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.” -Buddha

so much love and respect. xo

-e