Not a good day

We had music class this morning, but our teacher, Miss Julie, was out sick with a cold. So we had Miss Sarah instead. Did my easygoing child just go with the flow and enjoy class? Of course not. He turned into super rigid toddler, and started screaming "Go away!" over and over again, and tried to push me toward the door. Normally if he were acting out in class, I would threaten to take him home, but of course, I couldn't do that this time because it's precisely what he wanted. So I took him into the hallway and explained to him that Miss Julie was sick and that Miss Sarah was here and we were still going to sing and dance and have fun like we always do. I got a reluctant, "Okay." So we went back in. He was still very pouty and stayed on my lap. He got mad once when she started singing a song that he didn't want, and then again when she did a verse differently than Miss Julie does. The pouting got worse. In the middle of a song where we were using egg shakers, he laid down on the floor. Then when Miss Sarah came around to collect the egg shakers, he took mine and his and threw them at her, narrowly missing another child. And out the door we went again. I put him in time out in the next classroom. Then he asked to pee, which we did successfully in the church bathroom. I asked him if he was going to be a good boy when we returned to class, and he said yes. I told him if he acted up again, he'd get no computer time when we got home. He was somewhat better after that, but he still pouted quite a bit and refused to sing or dance the rest of the class, but at least didn't yell at anyone or attempt to hurt anyone. Not enjoyable.

After class we took some quick trips to Target and the grocery store, then back home for lunch. After lunch, he watched the last half of Sesame Street while I cleaned the kitchen. At one point he came in and told me he hurt his eye, and needed his Elmo Boo Boo Buddy. I saw no actual injury, but he often asks for Elmo at the slightest bump, so I gave it to him. I continued cleaning the kitchen, and a few minutes later he comes in and shows me his now chewed on Elmo, and points in his mouth and says, "I ate it." Me: "WHAT?!?!!" Sure enough, under the teeth marks was a hole, with goo oozing out of it. Gross! He knows that's not allowed (thank goodness they are non-toxic though), so I immediately sent him to time-out, since it was a potential hazard. He went obediently to his time out corner, no screaming or crying. I go back to cleaning the kitchen. Just when his time was almost up, he comes running into the kitchen again and says, "Peed in time out corner." Me: "WHAT??!!?"

Now, I know you're not supposed to get mad at accidents, that I'm supposed to brush it off and let it go and praise the successes instead. But O.M.G.! He hasn't had a pee accident in weeks, and I am quite certain this action was deliberate. He stood in that time out corner, and peed. Not on the time out mat, no that would be too easy to clean. But on the wall and the carpet. Now, this has happened once before, but that was on the first day of our first attempt at potty training, when he was having accidents everywhere. It wasn't totally deliberate then, just an out of control thing. This time was very much a deliberate, "I'm mad at mommy for putting me in time out" action. I mean, our bathroom is literally 5 feet away. He's potty trained. He wasn't even crying this time. I didn't even know how to handle this one. Trying not to explode, I told him to go sit on the potty while I dealt with the mess. I got the carpet cleaner (made just for pet stains!) and sprayed it on there and while it was setting, I went in the other room to calm down. Then I finally went to see him in the bathroom. I asked him if he peed in his time out corner on purpose. He started laughing. I walked out of the room to keep my head from exploding. Breathe. Count to 10. Then I returned to the bathroom and calmly reminded him that he should be peeing on the potty instead of the floor. Then I told him that he had to help me clean up his accident, and gave him a big rag so he could scrub it. Then I washed his hands really well because I hate the thought of him touching chemicals.

Lucky for him, nap time started a few minutes later. Not that he's sleeping. I don't want to know what is awaiting me in that room when I go get him. He's up there now saying "Wake up Mommy!" over and over and over and over again. I'm going to hit "publish post" now in the hopes that we are done with the very bad part of our day, and the rest is enjoyable. If I come back later and post an addendum, you'll know it's been a bad one.