So much has happened since my last update - the 2 biggest being Domino starting kindergarten (excuse me, "K1" or Domino'll correct me) and the new "4".
Domino LOVES school. Loves loves loves it. I'm really glad we've chosen to send him to this alternative program. At this point, I'm not really sure how "alternative" it is, but he is thriving and that's great. He's already glommed on to a new little girl friend (not to be confused with "girlfriend" though she seems to be obsessed with "boyfriend") and I'm really happy that he's making some connections. I'm also glad he's in the K1 class - a mixture of kindergarten and first graders. He's always the big kid at home and it's good for him to be the little guy for a change and follow the example of the older kids. They all look out for each other (part of the schools community spirit) and he loves to give the big kids hugs and hi-fives when they leave for lunch every day and the K's leave for home. He is enjoying all he's learning and participating in ways that I hadn't expected. In preschool, Domino removed himself from all of the group songs/movement stuff and remained an observer - in K1 he's up and doing all the songs and movements with all the kids. He's actively taking part with the group and it's a pleasure and surprise to see this new side of him. (He also busted out a HILARIOUS "months of the year" macarena dance in the bathtub the other night while completely covered in bubbles! Tony and I haven't laughed that hard in years...)The first week of school was a bit of a schedule challenge for us. Because the boys went to afternoon school all last year, we've become pretty laid back (aka lazy) in the mornings. Domino's school is about 40 minutes (commute traffic) away so we had to adapt to a 6:30am wake-up call for the boys (and a 6am wake-up call for me!) so we have enough time to get ready, get functional and get there without feeling rushed and stressed. I haven't been up and functioning at 6am since Rascal was a baby and even then calling it "functioning" would be very generous.
Anyhoo - on day 3 of the 6:30 wake-up call, Domino started crying when I went in to his room and turned on his light "why do you keep waking me up in the middle of the night?! It's not fair!". I couldn't help but laugh and I thought to myself "Remember your first year of life when you were awake every 114 minutes? Payback!". Another morning he got really angry that I had the nerve to turn the light on in his room and insisted that I turn it off. I refused and told him to get up and turn it off himself - thinking I'd call his bluff. He immediately got out of bed, turned the light off, crawled back into bed and told me "go away and don't come back". I'm happy to say we're all getting used to the new routine and yesterday (Saturday) Domino came bursting out of his bedroom at 8:34am in complete hysterics that "You (me) completely wasted all my time!" I had no idea what the heck was happening with him until I realized he thought it was a school day and he thought that I let him oversleep. Glad to see that he's so committed to getting to school on time!
And of course, there's another member of the household that had to adapt to the new routine. I'll just call him "4" for right now, because that is what he is. FOUR. Don't mess with him, he's 4. "What the hell is he screaming out?! Nevermind, he's 4." "What is going on, why is he freaking out?? Oh yeah, that's 4." My 4 guru Mz. Lori says the age of four brings "a lot of power struggles" and "extreme highs and lows" and holy mackerel, even though Rascal just turned 4 a few weeks ago (Happy Birthday Rascal!) he's textbook 4. I thought I'd be more equipped to handle 4, having already gone through four with Domino, but this is different. WAY different. People talk about the terrible 2's all the time, but this Rascal 4-thing is double that.I had foolishly expected that when Domino started school, that life with just one kid at home with me would be so much easier. I'll get cleaning done, and errands run, and my paid work done, and my blog done... Ha! It's actually much more difficult than I had expected. Rascal needs constant attention these days and seems to be both clingy and fiercely independent simultaneously. I can't win. I know his little life is completely turned upside down, his constant playmate gone at school 5 mornings a week, and the aforementioned new morning wake-up routine is rough, but oh my lord I've threatened to sell that kid to the gypsies more times this past month than I care to admit.
I'm trying to figure out what things trigger him and most times, it's nothing I can pinpoint. I have learned he doesn't like to be embarrassed, and if heaven forbid it happens, be prepared for hell for the next hour at least. A few days ago while killing time in our parked car, waiting for his school to open, he accidental honked the horn. He lost his mind, screaming and crying that he needed to go home, and even when school opened he was still a train wreck and I basically dragged him in against his 4-year old will. I stood in the doorway with him at school, him clinging to my leg, me wanting to give it (and him) a good hard shake, looked at Mz. Lori and said "Hi, he's 4 today". She smiled at me knowingly, gave my arm a rub and said "Yes, I can see he's 4 today. He looks like he's 4 today". I couldn't have been happier to leave him with someone so well equipped for "4", run the opposite direction and have a reprieve for 2 and half hours. I am not equipped for 4.
Yesterday we went to a birthday party and we let Rascal ring the doorbell. He didn't hear it ring so he immediately hammered the button a good 6-7 times while Tony and I said/shouted "whoa whoa whoa!!!". GAME OVER. "4" was HELL for the next hour. We even had him seat belted in the car ready to bail on the party, but I couldn't deny him a ride on the "my little pony" Misti. And just now I had the nerve to misunderstand his instructions (he wanted both sides of the toy open, not closed as I thought) and now he's crying, stomping his feet and yelling at me... like I must have thought to myself "how can I mess with '4' and piss him off first thing in the morning?" and then I specifically chose to do the reverse of what he asked. I guess he thinks I'm mean like that.As my dad used to say "This too shall pass". Or maybe the gypsies will pass through town instead.
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