The Meanest Mom

Hello Monday!

It is just before 9:00AM and I am proud to say that I have already earned the meanest mother award for the day, and the whole neighborhood knows it too. If they don't it is because they were already gone for the day. Because anyone who was home would have heard Joe screaming at me as I dragged him up to the school this morning.

The day started out normally and the kids were ready to go by 8:05. They got their backpacks on and were heading out the door when Emily's friend came by to see if she could walk with her. Joe stopped and said he was not walking because he only wanted to walk with Emily and not her friend. I told him that his choices were that he could walk with them or he could walk in front of them. He still did not move. I told Emily to start walking, and I told Joe that if he was late to school that he would not be able to play Wii today and he would also have an extra chore when he got home. Then I said goodbye and closed the door. I was hoping that if he didn't have an audience he would just start walking, but when I peaked out the window he had sat down.

I opened the door and said that he could either catch up with Emily (who was walking slowly) or I was going to walk him to school. He still didn't move, so Josh and I got our shoes on. When I came back out Joe was gone. I was hoping that meant he had started walking but when I looked up the street I saw Emily and her friend at the top and there was no Joe.

That is when the real fun began............................

I found Joe sitting in the car waiting for me to drive him to school. I told him to get out because we were walking, and he locked the door. So I put Valerie in the stroller opened the garage door and then proceeded to drag Joe out of the car. That is when the screaming started.

"I'm not going to walk! I want to drive!"

I know It would have been easier for both of us if I had just put everyone in the car and driven him to school, but this was about making a point. The weather is nice school is three blocks away. He has an older sister to walk with. We are not driving to school. Especially because he is throwing a fit about it.

So there I was pushing the stroller with one hand (not that easy) and dragging my six year old up the hill with the other. While he is kicking and screaming the whole way. Luckily Josh and Valerie were happy to go on a walk. I tried letting go of his wrist a couple of times to see if he would just walk on his own, but he just turned around and tried to run home. So I dragged him for two blocks. Finally on the last block he would walk on his own, but he was still screaming at me.

He was late for school so I had to take him into the school. When we got to the class I hugged him and told him I loved him. Then he went in to class. I stood outside the door for a few minutes just to make sure he was done throwing his fit, and I heard him tell the class and his teacher, in a sad tortured voice, what a horrible mom he has. How she pulled him by the arm to school and held his arm really hard. (Is there any other way to "drag" your kid to school?)

I looked in and could see the sympathy he was getting from his classmates. How some of them were nodding their heads in agreement that Joe had a mean mom. So I was happy when the teacher just said in a sympathetic voice, "Oh it must be Monday."

So for now I am taking this as a win for mom, and wearing my mean mom badge with honor, but I have a feeling it is going to be a rough afternoon. Wish me luck!