You'll never take me alive...

Today was one of those days where I did battle with Charlie on every front. It started early this morning when he woke me at 5 am wanting to climb into bed with me. I sent him back to his own room where he started crying about not wanting to sleep in his bed. We finally compromised and he slept on the couch until it was light out (when he's allowed to get up).

Post breakfast we went round and round about his treatment of his brother. "Stop hitting him!", "Get off of him!", "Don't kick him!", "Share your toys with him!" - sometimes I annoy myself with all the nagging. But then he bit me!
I yelled, "You DO NOT BITE ME!" He smiled. I wanted to strangle him. Instead, I put him in his room and shut the door. He cried, which made me feel better. I told him (through the door), "Mommy needs 2 minutes of time out because you have made her so mad by biting. WE DON'T BITE."
After he finished crying and promised not to bite again, he came out of his room. 'You really hurt me. Do you like being bitten?' With a sheepish, 'No', he responded. He seemed pretty sincere with his remorse but who knows. 3 year olds often embody many of the same qualities as a sociopath.

After that we took off for the park. Lord knows if we stay inside the house for too long, everyone goes a bit stir crazy. Charlie was pretty mellow, throwing rocks down the sewer, playing on the swings with his brother. We headed over to the sandbox where another little boy was playing with a plastic wheel loader. Charlie asked, "Can I play with that?" The boy ignored him.
"Can I have that?"
"No."
"I want that."
"No."
A scuffle ensues with Charlie and this kid hitting each other. The mother of the boy dragged him off where he had an official meltdown. Charlie was on reasonable behavior until the boy came back into the sandbox. They went at it again, this time arguing over a bike that neither one of them really wanted.
Fortunately, this other mom was used to dealing with a 'high strung child', so there was no awkwardness or unnecessary apologies. We just tried to put an end to the behavior and avoid any blood shed.
I told Charlie for the 2nd time, "We do not hit. If you hit him again, we will go home."
Sure as the day is long, my son hit again.
I said in a matter of fact tone, "That's it. We're going home."
Oh boy. Charlie threw a tantrum to end all tantrums. He started screaming at the top of his lungs. "Nooooooo. Noooooo. I don't want to go home."
Props to me for remaining calm. "Sorry honey, I said if you hit, we would go home. So we're going home."
"I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME! I want to go on the slide. I want to go on the slide. I want to go on the SLIIIIIIIIIDDDDDEEEE!"
He dug his heels in and would not move. Still with no emotion, but getting close to losing my cool, I started heading toward the car with Gregory, the stroller, sand toys, diaper bag, water bottles, and blanket. Charlie freaked, started screaming even louder, "NOOOOOOOO. NOOOOO, don't go."
I finally got him into the car and as soon as Enzo Garcia started playing on the iPod, we were onto discussions about dinner.

While this was a most difficult day, (keeping in mind I made no mention of the other 572 battles that took place from 5 am - 7:30 pm) I kept my cool throughout this entire incident. Despite the glares from the other mothers in the park and my son's best attempts to rattle me, I stuck to the rules and did not back down. It would have been so easy to just let him have that last ride on the slide before we left the park. It sounds silly, but I felt slightly victorious.