Thursday 24 June 2010

Bringing up Boys: Bedtime battles

"Mummy what is Bog Boy doing at the top of the stairs?"
**$5$"£! Yes what IS he doing? I shoot out of the sitting room and bound up the stairs to witness exactly what my youngest is getting up to, and there he is out cold as only small boys can be. Fast asleep, on his back, arms above his head just like he used to do as a baby.
I catch The Boys eye and we stifle a giggle.
"Boy, I have no idea why he is here but I think I'd better put him back in bed don't you?"
He is so heavy and so out cold I don't think he notices the shift at all. It is the culmination of a very, very tiring and trying evening.
Bog Boy has taken to asserting himself and he will repeat his demands forcefully until he gets the answer he requires. I am beginning to just say yes and then reneging on all promises forced from me. As you can imagine I do not rank high in his estimation at present.
He has decided that he no longer likes Nursery and prefers to go to school along with his big brother which he is allowed to do two days a week in preparation for moving up to Reception next year.
So every evening I get:
Bog Boy: "Where am I going tomorrow Mummy?"
Me: "To Nursery darling..."
Bog Boy: "Which Nursery Mummy? School Nursery or Nursery Nursery?"
Me: "To Nursery Nursery darling..."
Bog Boy: "I don't want to go to Nursery Nursery Mummy!"
Me: "If you want to go to School Nursery you have to go to Nursery Nursery Bog Boy, you know the rules..." The rules have been reiterated every day at least five tiems a day ever since he started to make his feeling clear about going to school.
Bog Boy: "But I don't want to!"
Me: "OK Bog Boy but you will not be able to go to School Nursery..."
Bog Boy: "But I want to!"
Me: "Well you know the rules, darling..."
By this time I am usually tidying up his room ready for him to go to bed. I ignore the whining and try to distract him but he's not my son for nothing. He tries again
Bog Boy: "Where am I going tomorrow Mummy?"
I ignore him.
Bog Boy: "Mummy where am I going?"
I ignore him again. He really hates this and gets very adamant.
Bog Boy: "Mummy! Where. Am. I. Going?"
I ignore him and wish him good night and trundle off to get The Boy sorted.
I am haunted by his demands to go to school. He shouts. He screams. He bursts into tears.
He trots downstairs to lure me out and put him back to bed. I do so begrudgingly. He makes his feelings known in no uncertain terms. I bark at him and stomp back down stairs feeling a total heel.
He stomps down the stairs after me. I bark again and tell him to get thee hence to His. Own. Room. On. His. OWN!
I hear nothing more and presume that all is well until...
"Mummy what is Bog Boy doing at the top of the stairs?"

PS: Want tocheck out some Bad Mommy Moments then go HERE courtesy of the lovely Gappy at Single Parenthood who was hosting this weeks BMB Carnival. It's brilliant!

7 comments:

Jen Walshaw said...

We are going through similar battles with Mini (he turned 4 today) it is so hard, I dont remember this with Maxi!!

diney said...

Bless his little heart!! At least he wants to go to school - a big bonus. Such tenacity - he wil go far in life!

Dorset Dispatches said...

We're having the same fights here. But you have to admire Bog Boy tenacity. Apparently learning to persist is an important developmental step...

Lou Archer said...

That is soooo cute, I can picture him now. I still have similar Intransigent demands from the 5yo.

The next rant comes when they realise they have to go to school. Every.Single.Day.For.Ever!!

Ladybird World Mother said...

My, motherhood is hard work, eh??! So wish it could be all baking and picking flowers and smiling. Ho bloody ha. Actually all baking would be pure hell, but you know what I mean. Sorry to be so absent recently. Life is mad. Lovely to visit. xxx

Kitty said...

How I remember those days...
Good job he's so gorgeous!

menopausaloldbag (MOB) said...

Yup wanting to go to school is great! Remember how we were in such a rush to grow up at that age?! Now if only we could slow it all down a bit for ourselves eh?!

Go on you know you want to...

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