I’m Closed*

P was in fine form tonight.

It started after school. We have swimming lessons right after school, so I pick everyone up then it’s a whirlwind to get everyone over to and into the pool.

P wanted to go home and play with his toys and wasn’t impressed when I told him we had to go straight to the pool. We may or may not have had to carry him out to the vanimal and strap him in to get him there, but… you know.

The swimming itself was uneventful and we survived without any major mishaps. Our regular routine is to divide and conquer when we get home–I whip up a quick dinner while M tubs the kids. P was not happy about having to have a bath… but we eventually got him sedated with a little Steve and Maggie and got through it.

After dinner and a bit of playtime, it was time for bed.

It’s amazing just how slow a child can go upstairs when they have decided that what is up the stairs is the worst in the world. When he finally made it to the top, he was adamant that he needed to be the one to squeeze the toothpaste out the tube.

Which he did, successfully. It also happened to be almost the entirety of the tube, but he definitely got some out! When I asked him to let me help him brush his teeth, he lost. his. mind. He kicked into major meltdown mode and was flailing and yelling and crying, and every time I tried to get him in his bed, he would scream and run back out.

I’m not proud of it, but by this point I was just… done. I’m exhausted after picketing / walking for four hours this morning and my patience was worn through. So, I yelled. He cried and still didn’t get into bed, but we eventually made peace after I laid down with and hugged it out.

When I left his room I thought that I was done for the night. S & H were asleep, and he was quiet so I slipped downstairs to watch some TV with M. We were sitting on the couch when I saw an mail pop up on my phone about an amazon Kindle purchase. I was a little confused and asked M if he had bought a book on my account. I showed him my phone, and he was as confused as I was. As we puzzled two more book purchases came through, totaling about $50 so far. We worried that someone had hacked into my amazon account and was making purchases, so I ran up the basement stairs to get my laptop from the living room.

As I got up the stairs, I noticed a shadow move. There, sitting on the steps was P… playing with my Kindle. My child that I thought was in bed, instead sat there swiping the screen buying books. I didn’t even know that you could BUY books through the Kindle… I’ve only ever purchased through Amazon on my computer.

I grabbed the Kindle out of his handle and pointed up the stairs. He dragged his feet back up to his bed and I went down to figure out if I could return all the books he had purchased. Thankfully Amazon is good and all is well… and I will never again leave my Kindle where small hands might find it!

Here’s hoping that tomorrow is a little less combative… this mama is tiiiiired.