Our house has become, where the wild things are. Not only because that is what we allowed our little darlings to dress as this Halloween, but because they seem to have developed to fit the part. Mia was (or is) Max, king of the wild things, and Olivia in turn was one of the wild things. Olivia really wanted to be the king, but the costume wasn't her size and Mia fits the part much better. She's been one obstinate, ornery little girl lately. She tests every boundary, refuses to do what she's told and will sometimes smile and smirk as she tells you, "No!" Her mouth is learning that a bar of soap isn't the tastiest thing around. I was the hellion out of my sister and I, but cannot relate to some of her antics. I didn't really talk back, and I was angelic at school. Mia is not a naughty kid at school, but she's far from perfect. The other day at recess when they were lining up to come in, she wouldn't stop talking so they sent her to the wall (that's where students who are disobeying go). She walked over there and continued to talk to everyone, including me, like it was no big deal. I would have been bawling my eyes out to ever be sent to the wall. She just doesn't seem bothered by many consequences, nor the fact that she should just want to obey because that's the right thing to do. We will continue to work on this, but in the meantime if anyone has any pointers, I'll gladly take them. I love her regardless and am happy that she is her own person and still loves to snuggle her mommy even when she calls me, "mean mommy!" That is in reference to taking her for a shot yesterday. I couldn't even get her out of the car. She held down the lock, so I had to climb through the other side and deal with hitting, kicking, screaming, and biting. Good thing I just had a refresher course on how to safely restrain violent students. The nurse and I got quite a workout trying to hold her down. But she's caught up for quite some time now.
The first house we stopped at
It was a terribly cold Halloween. We saw our first snow flurries of the season today, with a rain drizzle and whipping wind. Terrible, but typical trick-or-treating weather for us. We are attempting to list our old house on W. Electric Ct. with a realtor and got our renters out (that's another long story), so it sits vacant. That neighborhood is the best in Sturgis to go trick-or-treating in, so we buddied up with our friends the Sterlings and went around our old stomping ground.
The only photo I managed of all five of the kiddos facing a camera.
Walking the 'hood.
Mia and Mazie
Olivia is still a wild thing, but not king. She is a rule follower and responsible. Her attitude is too old for her age in my opinion. She is quick to anger and react, which I cringe at seeing, but I am working on my own reaction. If I just snap right back at her, I'm only reaffirming by example what she does. (That by no means means, that I don't ever react poorly to her attitude.) Being a parent is hard work. I could easily write a book on how I want my kids to turn out, what a parent should say, do, and how they should act to make it happen, but it's another to actually be able to be that "super parent." We are all human and at least I am aware of that. We are all made in God's image, but are flawed with sin. As long as we continue to strive to be better and do more, I think we are on the right path.
Happy Halloween!
