Saturday, August 12, 2006

Gettin' In Trouble

Lest you think Thomas is perfectly well behaved all the time, I wanted to share some stories from the last week or so of Thomas' other side.

Last week, we went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with his friend Corbin. Thomas was having a tough time sharing that day and we had to discuss his behavior several times. He didn't want to share the toys at the water table, he didn't share the puppets at the puppet theater, and he didn't share the train cars or the stuffed animals or any other toy available. On the way home, I asked him if he'd had fun at the museum. He said, "Yeah! My favorite part was the bubble thing!" Then he got a little twinkle in his eye and said, "No, my favorite part was me not sharing!"

One morning last week, Thomas noticed a disposable camera on the mantel. David had taken it with him on a business trip and there were still about a dozen pictures left on the camera. Thomas asked me if he could see it. I told him that was Daddy's camera and that he'd have to wait and ask Daddy that night. Well, that afternoon, I was upstairs and Thomas came up and excitedly showed me the camera and said, "Look Mommy, I can take pictures and this is how you do it!" He'd already taken all 12 pictures left on the roll. He had to be punished but the hard part for me was figuring out the most effective form. It wasn't a big deal that he took the pictures. The problem was he'd already been told no. So I finally decided the best thing would be for him to call Daddy at work and tell him what he did. And I tell you, that was the hardest thing Thomas had ever done in his life. I think it took about 5 minutes to even get the words out. He was SO upset about having to confess to Daddy but hopefully he learned a lesson.

David was putting Thomas down the other night and as they usually do, they were being silly and playing rough together. Things got a little too rough and Thomas accidentally gave David a nosebleed. He was so upset about that that I had to go upstairs to calm Thomas down after making Daddy's nose "all blooded." After a long hug and reassurances from Mommy, he sobbed, "Mommy, I think I am in trouble! I need to go downstairs and sit on the bottom step!" which is where time-out is in our house.

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