Day 6

We had kind of a rough start to the day today when Gray decided he wanted to wear his Batman costume to school.  I'm all for independence in the clothing department and Gray usually chooses his own clothes and gets dressed before I get to his room each morning.  I try to be okay with his choices even when I don't really "appreciate" the style Gray is going for.  But today I had to draw the line.  And things got a little ugly.  And so I forgot to take a picture this morning (even though I did walk out the door with it).

So, I made up for it by taking one at the park this afternoon.

I've been struggling to understand this boy that gets off of the bus each afternoon, the one who greets me happily enough and then quickly turns into a mouthy, rude, obnoxious little boy who tries to test his limits as far as they will stretch (and my patience with it).  I knew that we would experience some of this, and I get it, I really do.  But I absolutely do NOT have to like it.  It's not fun for anybody involved and by the time bedtime rolls around our nerves are all kind of shot. 

I swore today would be different.  I thought and thought about what I could do to make it an easier transition to go from school to home.  The one thing I came up with is trying to get Gray moving to work off some of the extra pent-up energy, and maybe find some neighborhood kids for him to get active with.  Today we met Gray at the bus stop and instead of coming straight back to the house, we walked right to the park.  The kids played for about 35 minutes and then we walked home.  He still tested me, but it was better, more bearable.  He'll be starting swimming soon, and possibly soccer or gymnastics, and I really hope that funneling his energy in those activities will help with the attitude at home.  Or at least use enough energy that he's too tired to talk.  ;)

Oh, and the friend from the bus is Braden, and Gray wants to have him over for a play date, yet another thing that I will have to figure out how to navigate in this year of firsts.