Communication is Essential...

Last evening James was acting a little strange - as in peeing his pants instead of going in to the bathroom, etc... It's always hard to know why a kid suddenly starts doing stuff. Is he just lazy, is he seeing what he can get away with, or what? You can ask all you want, he'll never give you any useful information.

This morning he looked grumpy and then every time I walked passed his room he was laying on his bed instead of making it. Is he extra tired, is he mad about having to stay close to me at church today ( I figured he needed to stay close to me if he was not going to be trust-worthy enough to use the bathroom), is he sick?

So the hundred-and-twenty-question-game started. This kid still almost always tells you what he thinks you want to hear, so to try and get to the real issue I have to phrase and rephrase the questions in order to figure anything out.

We decided he was sick, or so tired he felt sick. He said his tummy hurt, but that could mean anything.

I gave him water and told him to get under his covers.  He and I would stay home.

Meanwhile Missy-who-hasn't-been-to-her-Sabbath-school-for- a-long-time on account of having to stay beside me, was doing her jobs -sort of. Well pretty much doing everything but there was this sense of something not quite right. She was TELLING me that she was going to Sabbath school, not asking. She was TELLING me she was doing her morning routine, but it was on her terms, in her time. Also, we have a pretty strong rule about not opening my bedroom door  when it is closed and we have made that very clear ever since they moved here. They did not learn it very easily, but they absolutely know without a doubt they are NOT to open the bedroom door any more than you would open a bathroom door if someone is in there. This morning, even as I am on the other side saying, "DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!" she opened it and when I went to call her on it, she was going to run away. It was the clincher. She had shown me she could not be trusted out of my sight, though I said nothing about it yet.

When we decided James was sick I went and talked to Missy and told her that she was staying with me and we were staying home. It was like a major volcano eruption! Tantrum city.

Steve wasn't convinced that James is sick. He figured the kid was upset about having to stay by me instead of going to class, but I think the wetting is from not feeling good. He threw up his water all over his bed.... and yes, I had to play the one-hundrend-and-twenty-questions-game to figure out why the bed was wet! So, who knows??? LOL  Of such is life with kids who do not know how to communicate their deepest needs. Regardless whether Steve's right, or I'm right, the treatment is the same. He gets to stay in bed today until he "gets well" one way or another.

Missy's in bed, too. And I'm enjoying the quiet and watching a robin build her nest next to the window.