The Dark Side

So, my last post was all about buying things for my kids that remind me of my childhood. All sweet and cute right? Um, no. The very next morning, Aidan totally woke up on the dark side. Seriously. When it was time to get dressed for school he furrowed his brow much like this picture of Darth Vader. He said he wasn't going to school, so he wasn't getting dressed. He was going to sit right there on the couch and watch cartoons. I joked, "did you wake up on the dark side or something?" He just furrowed his brow and stared me down.

Finally, I managed to get his clothes on him. Matt put him in the car - notice that Aidan did not willingly walk nor voluntarily sit down in the car. I figured he may have a few pouty moments, but would end up having a great day as usual.

I went on with my morning. Ella was dressed and ready to go to her school. I was ready to go to Yoga. The force was once again in balance or so I thought. A minute later, Matt came home WITH AIDAN draped over his shoulder. Aparently once they arrived at his classroom, Aidan started running back to the car. Oh, my! The battle of the wills was on. I calmly went and got a large basket and started boxing up all of his toys (including the new lego Tie Fighter and his dvd player and movies). Aidan was so upset. He knew he was in T-R-O-U-B-L-E. All he could say was "I need to talk to God!". That was sweet, his prayer was sweet: "God, I'm so sorry I disobeyed and didn't want to go to school. Help me have a better day."

We let him rest in his room and then Matt took him back to school. He did have a great day. His toys stayed boxed up for a couple of days (not all of them, he still had plenty of things to play with) and his dvd player is still put away.

He's still apologizing. He'll say, "Mom, I just want to apologize..." It's really a good teaching moment. I just tell him that he's forgiven and that no matter what choices he makes - good or bad - he's loved, but there are consequences for his actions.