Tantrums and Being Six

I know I'm going to get socked in the face for this,  but in my house, we really don't have tantrums. I can recall a couple thrown by Connor, and three thrown by Helen.

Although few in number, both Helen and Connor have had a tantrum in front of multiple family members, so the number of people who witnessed a tantrum is fairly impressive. They probably don't believe me about the rarity of the event.

Timing. It's everything.

There's a theory of child development that kids spend half a year being super mellow and loving life, and the other half of the year stretching and growing into their next age. Apparently, Connor didn't get that memo exactly right because for the last two days - when he is only 6 years and 5 months - he has been a pill.

Two nights ago, I finally got tired of the "why do I have to [insert chore]" query and told him that the answer was always going to be that it's because he's part of this family, and everyone does what they can to make it work at its best. I then said every time he asked me that question, he'd be given one additional chore. He doesn't like this system but I'm betting by tonight, he'll stop asking that annoying question.

Yesterday, he was home from school to get his hair combed by the professional de-licer. He was having so much fun at home creating a restaurant, complete with menus, that I decided he could remain home for the rest of the day. That was probably a big mistake on my part. I should've sent him back to school after the great comb-out so that he could live in his typical rhythm. By nightfall, he was done being cooperative.

First, he was playing with Helen and the boy next door and he was being insufferable about game rules. I was trying to cook dinner and seriously considered throwing out the beautiful game his grandmother had gifted him at Christmas, just because it was making me nuts.

Then, after dinner I told him to clear his plate (a job he does daily) and he started in with the questions, got a penalty task, and then settled into playing a math game on the computer that is part of his homework this week - another post on how I abhor that to come. He finished, came to join in the game Helen and Ed were playing and I asked him to pick up a puzzle he had left out earlier that day. Rather than doing it, he started in on me, which didn't delight me at all. And then after wasting 10 minutes doing a 1 minute job - complaining the whole time - he decided to join the game in the most disruptive way possible. After a warning or two, Ed scooped him up and took him to bed. It's nice when the parent who doesn't have skin in the game takes this initiative. Helen had a few sympathy tears, argued a bit for Connor's case, and then decided to finish the game and have a treat without Connor.

I heard Connor screaming for a good 5 minutes over this. Seriously? A temper tantrum over a quick job?

This morning, Connor was no less argumentative, so I informed him that he still had one more month of being pleasant and not arguing with me. Come February 12, we can discuss the merits of rebelling. I'm hoping he takes that message to heart, because I need some respite from last night to put my game plan together for the next six months.

Elaine