he needs some control

A few days ago, David kept Dennis one afternoon while I went hiking. He discovered that letting Dennis make some decisions about where he wanted to go makes for a very happy Dennis and a much easier day. When David met me to pick Dennis up, Dennis said "want to go to lake house" and David took him there. They watched some boats go by, and they watched Mr. Hall hard at work on his tractor. They had a good time! And then, on the way home, Dennis spied the fast food restaurants by the interstate and said "I want hamburger and fries, Daddy", and David stopped to get him a Happy Meal. He was delighted with that as well. He was happy and sweet and easygoing the rest of the evening and even put himself to bed at 7:00. I suppose I'll start letting him decide more of things that we do when I can. It's a fine line to keep him happy without letting him run all over me!