wow, today is the day that I will look back on as my most embarrassing, mortifying moment as a parent...until another experience can top this one...
Lauren has swim lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays. Most of the time I leave Colson in the day care during her lesson, but today I had to bring him to watch her swim...no problem.
I picked the kids up and took them to the locker room so that Lauren could put her swim suit on. She noticed I had some snacks in my bag and asked for one. Since we had 10 minutes until swim lessons started and it had been a few hours since we ate breakfast I let her have an orange. I peeled it and she sat down to eat it. She dropped two sections on the floor and I scooped them up to throw them away...which began a terrible tantrum that went completely out of control.
She threw a fit that I threw her oranges away. I told her that we don't eat off the floor...she cried and begged for her oranges back. She got so upset that she threw the rest of her oranges at me. There was only one other family in the locker room at the time, so I wasn't too embarrassed yet. I told her she needed to apologize for throwing her orange at me and that we'd have another orange after swimming... Long story short, she was laying on the bathroom floor kicking and crying for her orange. At this point lessons were about to start so I proceeded out to the pool. I encouraged her to come with me. She followed me until we got to the doorway of the pool where she laid down again, allowing the door to hit her in the head which set off another crying spell. So here we are in a narrow hallway trying to get out the door of the locker room to the pool...The previous lessons let out and several families were trying to get in... Meanwhile I have two bags and Colson in my arms, trying to persuade, encourage or drag Lauren through the door.
Thinking that if I could just get her to her lesson she would swim, be happy, turn her mood around and we could go on about our day...wrong! Oh my.
So a mom with 3 kids tells me that she will help get Lauren through the door...how embarrassing! She has 3 kids and she wants to help me... I thank her but tell her she has her hands full also. Luckily the grandmother who was in the locker room for the orange incident sees me and offers to hold Colson. thank goodness. I pick Lauren up and get her through the door, all the while she is crying and carrying on- still about the stupid orange!
I am sweating and exhausted and trying to keep my cool... Still thinking she should just swim and get over it...but before I can set my bags down and talk to her she has taken her bathing suit bottoms off (because they were wet from sitting on the disgusting bathroom floor). So she is half naked, having a temper tantrum now in front of 15 families. lovely.
I somehow convince her to put her suit on and walk down for lessons. I think I am in the clear. We pick out a noodle and I tell her to have a good swimming lesson. I turn around and she is running toward me screaming "I don't want to swim" then slips on the pool deck starting another round of crying... then screaming, "I want to swim. I don't want to go home". I give her one more chance to swim, still thinking it will turn her attitude around, but she gets to the pool deck and changes her mind...
I get her back to where our bags and Colson are and after a few moments of her indecisiveness decide that we are going home- she cries and carries on even more... I pick my bags, Colson and Lauren up and make it back into the locker room. Imagine a lot of kicking, screaming and crying going on the whole time... with 15 families, 2 lifeguards and several employees staring... ugh!
I try to get Lauren dressed but she is still having her tantrum. The nice mom with 3 kids who offered to help me is in the locker room now with her mother. Her mother offers to hold Colson. Thank you thank you thank you. I take a moment and say a quick prayer to get me through this little episode... I get Lauren dressed, gather our things, and get Colson....still with Lauren crying and screaming, "I don't want to go home. I want to go swim" I told her they wouldn't let her swim today because she was acting so naughty. They don't let little girls who scream and cry go swimming.
Several moms approached me and told me I was doing a great job and not to worry- that they have all been there. I was applauded for handling the situation so well by several people, but it still didn't make me feel any better about it. The grandmother holding Colson even asked if she could give Lauren a treat, which I thanked her for offering, but declined- I felt like that would be rewarding her behavior, even if it would have ended it...
Ah! So...we finally made it to the car, kicking and screaming...I was completely embarrassed and exhausted and it was almost time for swim lessons to end- which meant we spent about 40 minutes having a temper tantrum at the gym. fun times!
The strange part is that Lauren hardly ever has temper tantrums and they are usually short-lived and a simple consequence (like losing her juice box reward) usually ends it quickly...but not today! Whew! And I was just complimented by a mom that morning about how sweet and nice Lauren is to her daughter and her...and when she said that I had this strange feeling it was the calm before the storm...Looking back, she did wake up the next morning sick, so maybe she was already feeling under the weather--not that it excuses her behavior!
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