Dude with the attitude!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my kids. I would walk through fire for them if I had to without hesitation. I just don’t really like them right now and Hurricane Sandy made it even more clear to me.

That’s right, I said it. They are driving me crazy lately and something has to give.

Cameron with his crap attitude and the temper tantrums is enough to have me ready to ship him off to military school…In the first grade! No matter what you say to him he lives in opposite land and makes EVERYTHING an argument. When he doesn’t get his way he throws an all out tantrum, the kind you would expect from a toddler, not a six year old. He throws tantrums at home, when we visit grandparents, while out shopping, and just about everywhere else.

Logan sees his brother’s behavior and follows his every move. Now I have two kids living in opposite land and I’m done!

This isn’t the first time I’ve struggled to get the boys in line either. Some of you might remember reading about my struggles with Cameron’s behavior and Logan following his big brother’s bad example. That was over a year and a half ago and still I struggle. Sure we have good days and we’ve had quite a few of them, but the bad days make me wonder what I was thinking having kids in the first place.

So what am I going to do?

I’m going back to where I had some success. 1-2-3 Magic worked when I started to put it into place here. I blame myself for not keeping up with it or even finishing the book. I vow to do better this time, my sanity depends on it.

While we didn’t have power, compliments of Hurricane Sandy, I dusted off the book and started reading it again. I’m only about a quarter of the way through it but the ideas and lessons in the book seem to be resonating a little more than they did almost two years ago.

Just this morning I started to try and implement what I’ve learned so far. No words and no emotion. I think it caught Cameron off guard that I didn’t yell at him mind tantrum to stop. I let that kid scream his head off at the bus stop. Thankfully we’re alone down there.

The short version of the story, he had a choice to make, me made it and had to live with the consequences. When he realized he wasn’t going to get a rise out of me he calmed down rather quickly. It wasn’t easy, I think I bit my tongue bloody.

He wants a fight and I’m done giving in to it. I have to be done. I want to start enjoying the kids again. I want to look forward to them coming home each day instead of dreading it. I want to like them as much as I love them.

I have a plan and I’m going to see it through. Wish me luck!