sassy sassy fun

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you wake up before the alarm goes off and you get that blissful realization that you still have time to sleep longer? Just as I was settling back in for another half hour, the dog commenced howling to either go out or come in (I can't remember which). I took care of that, and then Dennis came to find me. He asked for breakfast and said something about his Daddy. I asked what Daddy was doing (as I headed to the bathroom) and Dennis said "well, unfortunately, Daddy is still sleeping" (and the way he pronounced "unfortunately" was pretty darn adorable, and I must admit to being pleased that he knows the correct usage of the word). As I was washing my hands, I heard him yelling "WAKE UP DADDY! WE HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL AND I NEED BREAKFAST!". Poor David--I had intended to take care of everything, but Dennis wasn't having it!

After school we went over to Gran's and Pop's house to have lunch (and Gran and I had a Zumba date), and Dennis kept asking if he could go to Wal-Mart after we ate. I told him he couldn't, and he said "I'm not asking you, I'm asking Pop--I want to go with Pop." I informed him that I was the one making those decisions for him today, but I heard him go and ask Pop to take him to Wal-Mart anyway. I also heard Pop ask him what his mother said, and Dennis said "you have to ask her or Gran can ask her." Yeah, I knew this time was coming, but it caught me by surprise anyway. We didn't fall for this trick, but he got me later. I was trying to get him to leave their house (always a major event), and he KNEW he was going to home to get a nap and DID NOT WANT TO. He said he wasn't going home and delayed by heading upstairs, taking a long time to put his coat on, and finally asking for chocolate milk. Gran poured some for him, and he drank half of a very small glass and then put it back in the refrigerator. After he'd complained and said his goodbyes, he announced that he needed more chocolate milk and escaped from my grasp to run to the kitchen and take one more sip. He was asserting his independence and I knew it. Sometimes he needs to control some part of his day, but this was a tough day for me to accept that. Sometimes I need to feel like I'm in charge, especially on a day when I've taught sassy and stubborn preschoolers that had listening disabilities. I think preschool was also why he wanted some control over his day--he doesn't really get to control anything at school (and this is a lesson he'll learn again and again in the coming years).

We drew with chalk when we got home, and we read tomorrow night's lesson and Bible verse for church, and THEN I put him to bed. I had to physically lay him down (he kept popping up and complaining), but he went to sleep before two minutes had passed. He's fighting a cold and needed the rest. When he got up, he felt positively animated. He had a terribly nutritious supper of chicken fries, popcorn, and a lollipop (I tend to pander to him when he is under the weather). I did let him have lemonade instead of water, and while I was pouring it, he jumped up and down and said "Mommy, you sure look cute today!". Then he ran into the living room and began yelling at Tabasco "YOU ARE SUCH A CRAZY DOG!". Right now he's standing on the seat of my recumbent exercise bike, gazing at my Coca-cola collectibles and trying to convince me to let him play with the aluminum pick-up truck. He's telling me I need to share it with him, that it's not nice to not share, that he promises to be extra careful with it and not break it like he did last time. And now he's grabbed a red Sharpie and says he needs to sign his name on some things, so I will quickly conclude here.