Tuesday is my day for Ladies Bible Study at church. I drop Gavin off at 9:00 am and my bible study begins at 9:30 am down the hall. I must admit... I was so tired this morning that I could have talked myself into keeping Gavin home from school today and just staying in bed and skipping the study, but I was determined to be obedient today and not let Satan get a foothold and talk me into the "easy way out"!
It began easy enough... got up at 6:45 am to see Blake and Landon off to school, then jumped in the shower. I was up and ready to go by 7:30 am and Gavin was up and ready as well. Holden was still sleeping as 8:30 rolled around, so I let him sleep as late as possible without making us all late and then I went in to get him up and dressed. A chill has spread through Charleston over the last couple of days, so I got him a pair of athletic pants and a long sleeve shirt to put on. Apparently, NOT OKAY! He freaked out when I tried to dress him, a new thing he has started lately. So once I managed to force his clothes on through the kicking and screaming, I buckled him quickly into the car seat... (by the way...not an easy task)! I ran back inside to put Bella in her cage... thankfully, she put herself in before I could even tell her, (anyone who knows what we have been through just to get that crazy dog to go in her cage knows that she must have been beside herself with him as well - and thought she would give me a little help this am)! When I got back to the car... Holden had managed to Houdini his shirt off despite the car seat straps!
I went on to school and figured I would deal with him once we arrived. We arrived... with no shoes... AND NOW no shirt... I tried desperately to get the shirt on him to which he met me with shrill screams of displeasure. By now we were late getting Gavin to school. So, I just picked up my half naked toddler and carried him in to drop Gavin off in his classroom. "yes, I realize he is not fully clothed!" I would say to all who I passed in the hallway who looked at me like I was crazy carrying a kid in on a chilly day half dressed.
Holden and I returned to the car and ultimately ran back home to get shoes, which he promptly removed on our way back to church for my ladies bible study! So, now the task at hand, is to convince Holden that he needs to put his shirt and shoes back on, so that we may go back inside. "NO!" he replies!
"OK, well mommy is going to go inside, would you like to go with me or will you be staying in the car?" I ask him. (I would never leave him alone in the car, this was just a tactic, you probably know that but I feel like I need to make that clear!) After much coaxing, and several minutes, I got him to put his shirt on (the correct way-don't ask) and we started into the building. We made it no further than a few feet outside of the van in the gravel parking lot and he threw himself down onto the ground refusing to go another step... yelling, "NO!"
Lord, certainly you WANT me to go to this ladies bible study, right?
"Don't you want to go inside and play with your friends? Don't you want to go color? Don't you want to go play with play-do?" I say, finding a winner with the play-do question... so up he goes and we are on our way again! But, not for long!...We made it all the way in the door and a few short steps down the hall when once again... "NO!" and he plopped back down on the floor...where he stayed and I walked down the hall a bit and sat down on a window bench to contemplate my next move. As I sat there a sweet older lady (who had witnessed the parking lot tantrum) walked past. She asked me oh so politely, "Is this the best way to deal with him in this situation?" I informed her that I did not know. He was the youngest of four boys and none of the others had ever done this. I also informed her that I did not know what I was going to do next, but at the moment I was just enjoying the peace of no crying and given the previous struggle I had been having with the child, I was just thinking of what I would do next. She very kindly offered me some advice and then said that she was a 1st grade Sunday school teacher but that she had not actually raised any children. However, she would be happy to pick him up and take him to his class. Hmmmm... I think not!
A few more minutes passed, and I stood up, walked down to Holden, picked him up, took him to his class and pushed him into his classroom. I then walked away.
After the bible study when I went to pick him up... the girls just gushed about how sweet and quiet he is and how much they just love him... oh my word!
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