This afternoon marks the beginning of six weeks of school holidays. This means sleep ins, not having to sort out school lunches, no washing school uniforms at 11pm because the boys forgot to put yesterday's uniforms in the wash as well as today's uniform. However....it also means six weeks of them being under each others feet and some inevitable bickering, which leads to Mum losing her mind.
Last saturday I was outside in our backyard with Carter. For some reason, he was pretty out of sorts that day. Early in the day, I put it down to it being the end of the school year and kids are generally pretty moody and tired, and I was quite patients (if I do say so myself). Fast forward a few hours and my patience was a thing of the past and I found myself outside growling at Carter through gritted teeth;
"I really want to yell right now but I don't want our neighbors to see my true colours!"
Thankfully, later that day, Carter pulled it together. Two days later, it was Tony's turn. I guess I can at least be thankful that they take it in turns to drive me nuts. It always seems that whilst one is being difficult, the other is on his best behaviour.
Carter did something that frustrated Tony, and Tony lost his cool. When I told him he needed to calm down, he rolled his eyes at me. As many parents will tell you, eye rolling is incredibly unwise when you are already in trouble. Realising it was best Tony was away from me at that moment, I sent him to his room.
I have a stubborn spirit. Sometimes it works to my advantage in that is keeps me from giving up when something is challenging for me. Other times, it stops me from letting go of things that I don't really need to fight. As Tony has gotten older, I have realised the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. Unfortunately, Tony has come from two stubborn trees so he never had much of a chance anyway.
Tony decided he was going to dig his heels in and kept coming out of his room. He played at going to the toilet, coming and getting an apple to eat, and sitting in his bedroom doorway. In my efforts to stay calm, I went outside. After realizing his audience was gone, Tony followed me outside.
It was at this point that I sensed the opportunity to get my payback and I went back inside and locked the door behind me. I then went through the rest of the house and locked every other door and even closed and locked every window. I then savoured the moment and sat back and waited for Tony to realize I had won.
I waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Tony had indeed realised he had been locked out, but refused to show any sign that it was bothering him. Instead, he lay on the couch, he played with a soccer ball, and rode his bike around. We both knew we were waiting for the other to break. BUT...it sure as hell wasn't going to be me!
I had a secret weapon. It would require some patience, but it was bound to work. Mosquitos!
Two hours after I first locked Tony outside, the mosquitos came. I could tell because I could hear Tony slapping his arms and legs. I evil laughed to myself in a whisper. My plan was coming to fruition and it was only a matter of time until Tony would have to swallow his pride and acknowledge his wrong doing. I of course would be gracious and accept his apology and explain that his lack of respect was unacceptable blah blah blah, but deep down I would be mentally high-fiving myself.
After about fifteen minutes had passed with no knocking on the door from Tony seeking refuge from the mosquitos, I peeked out the blinds. I don't know if I was more annoyed, or proud. He had gone into our laundry (which is a room outside the back door) and had moved the dryer to block the door and was using it as his throne. Now not only had he escaped the mosquitos, he had also made it impossible for me to get into the laundry AND he was surrounded by food and drink as the laundry has shelving I use as our pantry overflow.
I had officially been outplayed. I would like to think he had learnt from the master. Later that evening, when he had decided to come in and apologised and we had talked it out, I told him I was almost impressed and that I had found my match in stubbornness. I also told him he would have plenty of time to think about how impressed I was lots over the next few days as he was going to be without his phone and laptop.
Did I mention I like to win?
