Whew!

Day one just about down.

Steve and the girls left this am for Bible ARME Camp. As they were driving out of the drive I said to him - I can guarantee I will be dealing with tantrums in about 20 minutes because you are leaving.

Twenty minutes  nothing.

More like 2. But thankfully Little Guy decided to pull himself together and make the most of it. Missy decided to defy my very existence and it has lasted ALL day.  She spent a lot of her time in bed screaming and beating the walls and saying NO to me. Needless to say we did not go swimming as planned. We did not go to town. We did not do very much that was fun. Part of the time she slept. Part of the time she sat in front of a cup of water she refused to drink. Part of the time she was on the toilet refusing to go.

Eventually she had no choice but to drink said cup of water and two more over the course of the day. Eventually she had to try go poop. Eventually she had to apologize and obey.  She tested me on everything and tried to boss me around, which didn't fly too well. Little Guy and I spent a lot of time together outside mowing the grass and working in the garden.  He loved the one-on-one. Crying and screaming was quite boring when there was no one to listen so she would be quiet almost as quick as we would shut the door so, while I had stayed close by all morning, I spent the afternoon outside.  Thankfully she doesn't move from the spot I place her in during a tantrum.

I'm doing fine. Initially the adrenaline rush puts me in a fight or flight  mode and I have to work hard to maintain composure. I'm not always successful, but when I walk away and decide it's just a really stupid way for a 6 year old to try and gain some control over the life she has no control over I go into no feeling mode; the just do what's right and keep doing what's right mode. It helps to pray for wisdom and love. It helps to exercise hard - the push mower in our 2 acres of weeds works pretty well for that. Not saying I handle everything the best way. Sometimes I just handle it. It would be nice if I knew just what to do every time. Maybe the episodes would end sooner. Maybe they wouldn't happen at all. I don't know. For the moment I'm not going to analyze anything...

One down.... three to go.