Today we had our very first inconsolable terrible temper tantrum in a store. Right now I wish I had a glass of wine just remembering it. We are camping in Decatur tonight, the last weekend before the Carroccinos return to Washington, and we had decided to get the kids together for some fun at the water park (this is scheduled to happen tomorrow).
As usual, we left town a little later than we planned, and instead of stopping for provisions on the way to Decatur, we drove all the way here first. This decision was aided by the fact that Dennis fell asleep before we got to Birmingham, and we thought it best to let him nap on. He woke up just as we arrived, and wanted to run all over the campground, so I buckled him in the front seat and turned on a video to occupy him in the cool car while we set up the camper (in the heat). When the A/C was turned on in the camper, I brought him in. He didn't want to be in--he wanted to be outside exploring. Since all the campsites back up to an in-camp road (where you drive in to your site, and also where all the bicycles come by), I grabbed for his hand when he went walking. He did not want to hold my hand and kept snatching it away. When I grabbed it again and kept a better grip on his hand, he got mad and sat down in the dirt and screamed and refused to move. This was a first. But I did have a little preview this morning, when he picked out a shoe and brought it to me, and I went to put a different pair of shoes on him and he got mad and screamed (I would have gone with his choice, but there was only one shoe and I didn't know where he'd stored the other one). Both little screaming incidents prompted me to scoop him up and try and distract. It worked ok this morning, but not at the campground. I passed him to David so I could make a necessary visit to the bath house, and I could hear him screaming from inside the camper all the way there.
Then, after we set up, we took him to Target to get supplies, and he fussed at us the whole time. We finally took turns picking him up, but this prompted the kind of screams that made all the other shoppers wonder if we were killing him. I set him on his feet because he seemed to want to walk around, and he was happy until I grabbed his hand. Again, he sat, in the middle of the aisle, and screamed for all he was worth. We had been planning to buy him a bigger train table than his at home, and the Target one was 75% off today, but he was SO bad in the store that we couldn't bring ourselves to get it for him. Sad. It was a nice table and I would have enjoyed playing on it. I expect that if he lets us get some sleep tonight that we'll probably go back and pick it up sometime over the weekend.
We had supper with Gaynell and Jim tonight, a superb pot roast enjoyed with them and Kristin and Caedmon and Mirella. Dennis enjoyed playing with Mirella, but also tried asserting himself a little more than usual. He tried to pull her out of the rocking chair, and he knocked on her head like you would knock on a door. He poked her in the eye and said "eye". She never got upset with him, though, and Kristin said that when I corrected Dennis on his behavior, Mirella had a smirk on her face that she gets when other kids are getting in trouble. Typical girl, I suppose, or typical younger sibling behavior for sure.
After dinner we had everyone over to the campground to tour the camper and site, and Dennis got happy then and stayed happy until he went to bed, where he promptly fell fast asleep with not even a comment. I would like to think that today's tantrums were prompted by the heat and his lack of a long afternoon nap, but I fear that we are headed into those terrible twos now and the tantrums might occur more and more often now. Please Lord, help us to cope and be good parents through this time!
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