Off His Rocker

The brain is plain not working.

SLOW. SLUGGISH. IRRITABLE. UNCOMMUNICATIVE. SLEEPING. TANTRUMS. DEPRESSED. BLAH. Prone to violence.

That's what I mean by a lethargic funk.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to meet a fellow blogger in the trenches visiting a camping spot in the area... I had two and a half hours to spare. Brianna packed a lunch, and I got the babies ready for their family visit. Then we headed out to meet with this other family at the park on the river.

We live by the fair grounds so I made a quick stop at the office to find out if we could register some of James' chickens for the fall fair. Bri ran in and I absentmindedly looked back to see that James was NOT in a car seat. Now, we live in a state that requires a weight, height and age bracket to be able to sit in a car without one. We often joke that you almost have to be an adult around here to be legal without a booster seat. I asked him why he was not using a seat and he whined that Carissa was sitting in his. I reminded him that we have two sets of them and he probably should have gone in the garage and gotten his other one, but at the least he should have let me know that there was a problem. I told him to get out of the car and go in the office with Brianna. I instructed him to tell Brianna that I had run home to get his car seat and I would be back.

He lost his mind.

The incredible high pitched screaming totally scared the ladies in the building. Brianna guessed it was James and calmly explained he wasn't being killed, or dying of a mortal wound... I tried to calm him and get him to go in the office with Bri to no avail. I told him to sit on the step and wait for me, then.... He screamed louder and longer.

I walked towards the car and was almost in when he picked up a handful of stones and threw them at the windshield with an amazing force (for someone who can barely lift a finger). I thought for sure the headlights had smashed. A woman came out and I quickly explained and she told me she would talk with him. James covered his ears with his hands and screamed ear piercing shrieks. Brianna sat by him and I ran home to get a car seat.

Only, there wasn't one. They were in the other car with Steve. I felt like, at this point I had to follow through or we would be in a bigger pickle.

I ran to the neighbors. They have 8 kids. I asked if they had an extra car seat I could borrow for a few hours. Turns out they did.... because apparently they don't use car seats for most of their children... !

We finally made it to the park but we had lost a lot of time and we couldn't find the family at first so we ate our lunch. James hung his head most of the time.


We did find the family and enjoyed visiting with them, but we didn't have enough time at all!! I had to run home to collect the babies. We were ten minutes late and I was praying all the way that the driver would be late, too :-) She wasn't but seemed unruffled by our lateness.

James skinned his knees on arrival home falling in the driveway. He was miserable. I suggested he lay on his bed with a story tape on for an hour. This was almost 4 o'clock. He slept the rest of the day... At 7 I told him to get under his covers and as far as I know he didn't move until 7 this morning. Something tells me this is not a good sign. We've had quite a bit of crying this morning already.

Steve wanted to have a pretty strong consequence for the stone throwing and I do too... but I honestly don't think it will do anything... I will keep him close and have him work beside me. He won't be allowed to go off and sit and do nothing. He's lost the privileges mature behavior brings. Basically, we don't trust him and he can't be unguarded.