Meet Jake Anthony: Objection, Assuming Facts Not In Evidence...LOL

Just a short post and some Easter pictures... I had one of those "mommy ah ha" moments a couple of days ago. Jake and I had just returned home from school/work and the weather was nice and he was really, really wanting to play outside for a while. He "asked" (and I use the term in its most liberal sense here) if we could go across the street to see if his friends, Logan and Brianna, could come out to play.

Now, I'm thinking...hmmm, it's 6:00 already, I have to cook and feed him dinner, give him a bath and get him in bed ready to read books by 7:00 or 7:30 (according to Nanny's wonderful new bedtime schedule). Honestly, playing outside with Logan and Brianna isn't sounding like a very good idea to me...but, as anyone who has ever seen a toddler with his mind made up knows, I really only had just a mere illusion of "control" and not any actual control over what was going to happen next...so, sensing that, I decided to DECIDE to allow him to do what he was already going to do anyway...I know, I know, sounds crazy, but it's much easier than accepting the fact that your life is being run by someone who can't yet tie their own shoes...LOL

BUT, before we cross the great divide (the sacred "you don't EVER step into it for utter certainty that a car will come and run you over and you will be dead and go to heaven with Chaka, and no you won't just be visiting and you won't be coming back and mommy will be VERY sad, but will also be joining you there because Nanny will kill her for not watching you close enough" street that separates him from where he wants to be), I sit him on the front steps and say in my sternest mommy voice, (as though I have some control over him or the situation, both of which we BOTH know I don't)...OK, Jake, we can go across the street and see if Logan and Brianna can play, ONLY if you PROMISE that you will NOT give mommy a hard time when it's time to come in. We have exactly one hour to play and then it's time to eat and take a bath (no need mentioning the whole go to bed thing here...been there, done that, don't want to go back) and I need you to PROMISE that when mommy says it's time to go in, you're going to listen and not throw any kind of tantrum or have any meltdowns...OK, do you PROMISE?!?!?!?!?

And with the voice of an angel and the face to match, he says "YES, mommy, I PROMISE"...And off we go... And for all those "backseat mommies" who are at this moment saying..."ewwwww, this sounds like a bad idea", I refer you back to the earlier paragraph which again reemphasizes the fact that "control" was just an illusion...LOL

Well, as it turns out Kristen invited us into the backyard so that the kids could all play on the 3 ride-on toys that they have and play they did for close to an hour and a half before I realized, unless I planned on having Jake asleep in the swing in their yard in the next 5 minutes, I was about to blow Nanny's nighttime schedule. SO, as all the parenting books suggest, I give him the 'ol "5 minute warning"...and as all real life results of that have proven...he proceeded to give me that "yeah, thanks mom, let me know how that works out for you" look. Ut-oh...if this were a movie, there would be some very daunting music playing right about now...the kind that makes you want to hide your eyes, even as an adult...LOL

So, I reach into my proverbial mommy back pocket and pull out the 'ol "Jake Anthony, now remember what you PROMISED!!!" To which I get the response that every mommy dreads...the I'm going to throw a major tantrum here in front of someone else response...with a nice heaping of "it's now past my bedtime, I didn't have a nap, and haven't eaten any dinner yet" on top...AKA, the perfect mommy trifecta...TIRED, HUNGRY and IRRATIONAL...WOO-HOO, I've now hit the jackpot! So, I make the classic mistake of trying to negotiate, plead, then beg for compliance...for rationality...until realizing this is going to be one of those moments when I'm fortunate enough to still be able to physically pick him up and remove him from the situation.

The entire way back across the street...while kicking myself for ALL of the wrong decisions made at every turn and dragging the quad, I'm still trying to reason with the wriggling, crying, tired, hungry, angry 3 yr old I'm carrying over my shoulder... "Now Jake, you PROMISED that you weren't going to do this...you PROMISED that you wouldn't give mommy a hard time when she said it was time to go home...you PROMISED that you wouldn't cry or get mad or make a scene...you PROMISED!!!!"

About an hour later, after we both had calmed down and he had been fed, bathed and was now lying in bed... We began to talk about what had happened...believe it or not, those moments just before bed can sometimes, actually be very "teachable" moments... Little did I know, that night, he was about to teach me something...

And I say "Jakey honey, mommy was very upset earlier tonight when you didn't keep your promise"...to which he innocently replies..."Mommy, what does PROMISE mean?" Hmmmm...and thus the title of this post... ut-oh, it seems I had been assuming facts not in evidence!!!

I obviously have a lot to learn about this whole mommy thing...

And a few select Easter pictures...