And All it took was an Orange

Caleb usually does really well when he has to leave an enjoyable activity. Usually when we arrive at a play date, the park, the zoo, etc., I remind Caleb that we will be playing for a while, but when mommy says it is time to go, he needs to respond willingly with a "Yes, Mommy," instead of the emotional outbursts of times past. This way we can continue to have these special treats again and again.

Like I said, he usually responds well...unless we are leaving the company of the Davis family.

In the past two weeks, two of Caleb's most dramatic outbursts, of all time, have occurred when we were ending our playtime with the Davis'. Last Wednesday, after I had the audacity to make my children leave Crockett Park and the Davis' (who were also leaving) after at least two hours of non-stop playing so that I could bring them home to nourish them, Caleb exclaimed, "You are a mean mommy!" It caught me off guard, but only because he had never expressed those sentiments before and I was a little surprised that this was the incident that evoked such emotional words after living with me for over four years. He did, however, retract those words when we got home. Well almost. I think he said something to the effect of, "You really aren't that mean, Mommy," but he was hugging me at the time, so I will take that as a complete retraction.

Then today when he received his ten minute warning that we would soon be exiting the Davis' house o' fun, Caleb had a complete melt down, flung himself under a computer desk, and then proceeded to throw a plastic ball in my direction. After immediate expulsion from the room filled with the other kiddos, we moved to a more secluded location for him to receive the consequences for THAT action. He adamantly protested that he was not throwing the ball at me, but to me. He still received the consequences anyway.

I just had to laugh a few minutes ago when Caleb brought me an orange to peel for his snack. As I was peeling it, he was jumping around singing, "You are the BEST MOMMY in the whole world!!" That is all it takes! Wow!

From now on, I will be carting a bag of oranges with me when we meet up with the Davis family and waving them at Caleb when it is time to go.