The Hard Way

Sometimes it's just necessary. When your son won't get out of the car because he wants Mommy to carry him, but she can't, so he screams at the top of his lungs. When your daughter stands on the sidewalk outside your front door for the same reason, Mommy still can't, same result. They both did this today because they were so tired after visiting and playing with their cousins. We couldn't leave them outside screaming, so the choice had to be, "Do it on your own or with Daddy's 'help.'" In both cases, I had to pick them up and try to bring them inside. But my son struggled against me so much that I had to put him down about where our daughter had thrown her fit. Since he's older, I figured I could head on inside and he would eventually follow after crying it out a little. Not so! Before I could look back, he was screaming and banging ferociously on the glass outside door. He was inconsolable, and I had no choice but to pull him inside as quickly as I could before he broke the glass and take him straight up to his room with the threat that if he tried to leave the room before he calmed down I'd lock him in. I gave him three seconds to decide. He got onto his bed, and I left. When I came back up a few minutes later, he was a different kid. I invited him down for dinner, and we enjoyed a pleasant evening. My two-year old daughter took a lot longer to calm down, which required letting her snuggle on my lap while we ate dinner and dealing with food spilling on my lap a little. I felt a little bit bad forcing the kids to come inside tonight, but I wasn't mad. They were just tired beyond reason and we couldn't leave them outside. I wish I could explain to them that this whole thing could have been avoided if they would just let Daddy help sometimes when they are tired.