The Bad and the Good

There is some quote I read a long time ago that I am going to misquote but I hope you get the idea.  "Photo albums are the smiles between the tears."  Rarely do you see the sad or aggravating times in someone's album because let's be honest ... most people want to forget those times but how realistic is that to life.  Blogging gives us the opportunity to tell it all ... bad or good.  So here goes my bad ... or maybe it is good.

It started out as a normal evening.  I did a quick session on the elliptical before picking up Cooper at daycare.  He had already been fed dinner and was playing with a friend.  Every so often, he doesn't want to go home.  He plays his run away game.  So tonight I caught him, took him to a quiet corner and tried to play the good parent.  Quietly explaining to him that it was time to go home.  We were going to put on his coat and calmly walk to the car.  I thought I smelled something amiss in the diaper, but I couldn't see anything.  So off we go after a brief screaming match.  I put him in the carseat and now he is wailing.

I buckle him in, turn on the kid-friendly music and away we go.  And the wailing gets louder.  I thought he told me his pee pee hurt, so I told him we would check his diaper when we got home.  And the wailing gets louder, and I guess you could call it screaming by now.  He wanted the radio off, and on, and off.  And I calmly explained that Mommy makes the decisions, not Cooper.  And you know what happened next.  The wailing got ... louder.

At this point, I am at the end of my rope on this short car ride (which felt like an hour).  I call J to come out and get him.  I explain he needs his diaper checked and off to bed.  Now Cooper decides he wants nite-nite and puppy which I have in my hand.  I see his upset face and hear his hiccups and ask him if he wants to sit on the stair with me.  I felt like both of us needed a time-out.  He said yes and sat quietly sobbing in my lap.  I asked him to use his words to explain why he was upset, but nothing.  I finally asked him for a hug, and you know what happened next ... he stopped crying and just hugged me.  Now Mommy is crying. 

And do you know why he was so upset?  He had a very messy diaper that hurt.

A clean diaper, an oatmeal bath, and a happy camper and a new day tomorrow to try it again.

Hopefully, tomorrow will have more good than bad but we will make it through.  One hug at a time.