Monday, March 05, 2007

Episode #81 - The Tantrums
Hubby and I like to get together with other people. We enjoy getting to know them and their families. So, when a family from our church invited us to a waffle dinner, we were excited! Our first dinner invitation since we moved here! So, we got the kids all loaded up and headed over for a fun filled evening getting to know some new people. There were a total of 4 families and everyone had at least 2 kids, so it was a houseful! Most of the kids went outside to play and most of the dads followed them out. Poor hubby. I didn't realize how horrible my kids were being. I was inside, ignorantly chatting away, while he was outside keeping the kids from stepping in the dog poop, taking toys from the other kids, throwing sand and other objects, and in general pushing and shoving to get their way. I'm sorry, where did my kids go? Who are these maniacs? Little Bug is bringing all the inside toys outside. Baby Girl keeps pulling the other kids out of the motorized car and Red is HITTING THE HOUSE AND WINDOWS with some kind of toy. I'm mortified. The other parents are smiling politely as we reprimand the kids and hope they will do better. They didn't. But I'll spare you the gory details and skip to our good-byes. We had the kids help put the toys away. Little Bug was VERY upset. These kids had some COOL toys! I'm sure he wanted to take them home. So, he screamed. He has this really high pitched scream that we have nicknamed "spiraling" because that's what it sounds like. He fluctuates up and down and up and down in this really loud scream. So fun. Again, polite smiles from all. Baby Girl is also screaming, kicking and trying to pull my hair out. I finally have to literally throw her over my shoulder and pack her out the door. More polite smiles. The straw that broke the camels back... the 8 year old acting like his little sister. Throwing a fit. Refusing to thank our hosts for a fun time. Polite smiles are starting to look a little horrified by this display of children throwing themselves all over the place. Sigh. My kids have somehow turned into ungrateful little monsters. We've never really dealt with this before and now it's hitting us full force! Any thoughts or ideas? We came home and they went to bed - it was 7:00. And I fumed over the fact that our first dinner invitation would probably be our last.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Ahhh, they might just surprise you! For me, I don't really care if someone's kid's are misbehaving. What really matters is how their parents are dealing with it. I can't stand when they don't take action against against their naughty ones!

*Tanyetta* said...

HILARIOUS!!!!!! I love it. The polite smiles. You know they talked about you when you left. Just kidding :)

*Tanyetta* said...

Amber,

I just read your comment. I really really need your help. I need your advice. How can I 'deal' with my son acting up??? I am going to post about this situation and I hope you will respond :)

Melissa said...

Amber - I do have to agree with you... if the parents are sitting back with the "kids will be kids" as their demonic child lights things on fire, then that is irritating! Hopefully I will be able to look these parents in the face when we go back to church on Sunday...

Tanyetta - I know they were talking about us! "Did you see those kids? WOW... they have some MAJOR discipline problems in that home... " lol :) Naw, they were all parents themselves. They probably sighed and said, "Been there, done that" ;)

Susan said...

Oh no!! Hopefully your hosts understood it!! I am sure we all have those days when our kids don't act like the ones we've been raising. Set the boundaries in the beginning. Help the kids to know what they can and cannot do when you are visiting. Then, have signal that only YOUR family understands for settling down and focusing or listening. This way, you can hopefully stop this stuff before it escalates.

Hang in there. You're normal...they ARE kids and there's HOPE!!

:-) Susan

Justine said...

If our kids cause us say, 1/2 hour of grief, they owe us that 1/2 hour in chores and other work, when the time is more appropriate. They are disciplined and such on the scene, but we don't end it there.

They've slowly learned that if they make those choices, they won't just get hushed up on the scene, but will have to pay the piper at home later. Seems to have helped us!

Aisling said...

I'm sorry it didn't go better. Don't give up though, we all have bad days, I do hope someone invites you all out again soon.

flip flop mama said...

Oh, I can so relate, but I only have one kid. You have my respect. Today my little girl was the worst one at the park, stealing all the kids toys and pushing them out of the way to get to the toys. We had to leave abrubtly when she pushed her friend off her scooter and they both went tumbling and crying. We went home and both took naps....It was rough. Hope you have a better day tomorrow!