sentimental, but also PMSing

 

My boss shared this quote with us today - it kind of felt like a punch in the face, but at the same time, it made me feel all lovey-dovey - I'm already in Valentine's Day mode.  My first thought went to Patrick, how he (and so many other children) were blessed to have parents that are completely and unconditionally in love with them.  Parents that would do anything for them.  Parents that think they're the greatest at everything.  Parents that think they're funny and smart and caring.

And then I thought about those few students I have, the ones that just don't have that.  Their parents aren't crazy about them (at least in a conventional way).  They don't dress them nice or wash their clothes.  Their pants are too short and their hair doesn't get cut.  They don't help them with projects or take them out to eat.

Those kids need someone who is crazy about them too.

Today I had a student bring in his diorama project on the desert biome.  He printed out black and white pictures and put them on toothpicks, stuck them in the shoebox and that was it.  That was his project.  All the others were loaded with glitter and trees and animal figurines, an obvious sign that their parents had spent some money, just so their child could feel good about their project, feel confident and proud to show their classmates.

Of course I told this student I was extremely proud of him for putting together what he could (and I genuinely was); the fact that he even got that far was huge.  But I could tell he wanted his project to look like the others, he wanted to be proud of it.  I asked him if he wanted some background paper to make his desert really stand out, and he said yeah!  After school I drove to the craft store and bought a 27-cent piece of scrapbook paper that had some pyramids and sand on it.  I'm so excited to take it into school and let him situate it into his biome box. 

~~

Okay I totally got off on a tangent. 

My whole point of this post was that I had a complete blow-out Mom moment this afternoon.  Like, yelled.  Yelled at my 16-month old!  I'm losing it!

Patrick has become a pretty picky eater the past few weeks and it's making me edgy.  When I made him a plate of chicken parmesan, garlic bread, strawberries & pineapple, he looked at me and said "Uh-uh," shaking his head no.

Mom:  YES.

Patrick:  NO.

Mom:  EAT THE FOOD OR YOU'LL STARVE.

Patrick:  Uh-uh.

Mom:  FINE!!!!!!!!

He proceeds to throw the entire plate on the floor.

After about an hour I cave and decide he needs to eat.  I mean he's a frikking baby.  Do you want eggs?  Uh-huh!

I make eggs.  He throws the plate on the floor.

Guess what he got for dinner?  Fig newtons and m&m's.


So, in summary...

I felt so bad about yelling I could have cried and decided to put hearts all over a photo of me and my darling little boy that I AM CRAZY ABOUT!