Sunday, November 19, 2006

And How Was Your Weekend?

What an ass-ripper of a weekend this has been. The kids decided to lose their shit on Saturday instead of Sunday for a change, so it kicked off very nicely. Mr. Z had four classic meltdown/lid-flippages over the course of the day. Don't know if I remember exactly what they were about. I do know that one of them had to do with this charming new habit of his where we basically tell him to do something and he says, "No." No pleading, no whining, just "No." It basically went like this:

[Mr. Z and Miss O basically screaming at each other after playing nicely for a couple of hours]

ME: You know, guys, you've spent a lot of the morning together -- I think maybe it's time for you to split up and do something on your own for a bit. Mr. Z, why don't you go read a book or something.

MR. Z: No.

ME: Okay, then why don't you work on one of your comics for awhile.

MR. Z: No.

ME: Excuse me? You know what, I think maybe you need to go hang out in your room for a bit until your mood changes to something more positive.

MR. Z: NO!

ME: All right, let's go, up to your room. You're not showing any respect for what I have to say, so get up there, dude.

Mr. Z: [SFX: him going apeshit and stomping upstairs]

ME: [calling after him] AND DON'T SLAM YOUR--

[SFX: SLAM!!!]

ME: ... DOOR.

MISS O: I told him he needed to share but he--

ME: You know what, Miss O? I don't want to hear it.

You get the idea. There was also a dual lid-flipper when we were eating pizza and watching a DVD we rented, "Lassie." It was the recent version, with that young lass I have a thing for from "Nanny McPhee" and a little boy who looked exactly like what I'd imagine Thom Yorke looked like at age five. So, yeah, we were watching and then Mr. Z knocked over a glass of water, which we really didn't give a shit about, but he lost his shit anyway, just for fun. He was convinced he was going to get in trouble, so he just started bawling and flippin'. I said, "Have you ever gotten in trouble for spilling something?" and he said, "No," and then I said the equivalent of "Well then, what the shit?!" and he kinda stopped. But then he and Miss O started bickering and arguing over who had more blanket and they were tugging at each other, and then finally the old lady and I let out the simultaneous, "All right, that's it. Movie's over, let's go up to bed."

Boom, tandem lid-flippage.

I think they were just both tired as shit because THEY NEVER SLEEP IN ON THE WEEKEND, and they were basically begging us to end the day. We happily obliged.

Today was much better. Miss O went and played at a friend's house and Mr. Z and I went to the library and the grocery store. I made a vow to myself this morning to not let anything piss me off and to try and enjoy the day and it really worked. Mr. Z and I had a blast and pretty much everything the spawn did today seemed cute/funny instead of grating/exasperating.

Attitude is so fucking crucial. I mean, a lot of times, it's just plain impossible to not get wrapped up in all their shit and lose your mind, but when you get that 'tude going just right, it's golden. I've gotta work on my crabbitude. It's something you have to be conscious of at all times. Like if I can just sit there in bed before getting up in the morning, and say, "Okay, I'm going to be patient today and I'm not going to yell, and I'm going to focus on the good shit and not the annoying shit, and I'm not going to let work get me all tense and shit, and I'm going to be 'in the moment' and not worry about all the shit I've gotta do tomorrow, and man, I wish I had a bong right now 'cuz that would REALLY help a LOT," then, nine times out of ten, it will be a pretty fucking good day.

Unfortunately, most days I just wake up and say, "Goddammit, I'm awake."

No comments: