I think I'm starting to get things under control with Anthony. Or at least understand him a little better. In a desperate attempt to try to help myself and my child better deal with each other, (yes sometimes he drives me to insanity), I went and bought this book called The Difficult Child by Stanley Trubecki. All I can say is...IT'S GREAT! I was starting to feel so alone in having a child who to everyone else seems out of control. He's not out of control, he's just incredibly difficult. I mean INCREDIBLY difficult.
The last straw was the visit to the ER last week. He threw a tantrum in the bathroom at Walmart when my little brother took him to go potty. My brother had ahold of him by the hand when he threw himself on the floor. He dislocated his elbow, but from the way he was screaming I thought his arm was broken. Talk about drama. When we got to the ER I don't think they quite believed me when I told them that he has tantrums. But he was nice enough to oblige in giving them a demo by kicking at the nurse.
I'm not lying when I say I feel like I have no control over my child sometimes... and because of that feeling I got fed up and broke down and spent the $20 to get the book to see if there was something I could learn from it.
1) I'm not alone in having a child like this!
2) There is something that can be done.
3) Thank God for the visit to the ER because then I got the book, which in turn has taught me in just a few short days that my attitude towards his behavior has a huge impact on keeping him at least managable. (I guess it really shows when I feel out of control.)
He's incredibly sensative to everything, which I knew already because of how he reacts to certain things, but aknowledging that everytime he gets upset has helped to cut off a tantrum before it escalates to "kicking-screaming-biting-punching-leave-the-store-in-a-hurry" mode. Pay attention right away to the little things he says and then it doesn't escalate into something unmanagable. That's not to say that today we avoided the whole thing altogether. (Don't I wish!) When he gets upset about something he can hold a "grudge" and refuse to do just about anything. Which is what happened when he needed to go potty. First he needed to go, and then he couldn't go, and then he was screaming on the floor needing to go again but he couldn't. That's usually when I give up and walk away. Instead I waited him to take a breath and talked to him about having a hard time making up his mind. He got himself calmed down and finally went potty. More effort, yes. More time, yes. Worth it? Yes! After he gets himself under control he is so incredibly sweet that it's hard to imagine him being the same child.
*sigh of relief*

Kevin called last night. We talked for exactly 6 minutes and 12 seconds. It was midnight when he called and dad woke me up with the phone. Kevin asked me what I was doing....*l* After I woke my mind up enough to realize what he asked I said "playing basketball...". He's so sweet...he said "really? what, like on the playstation?" ..."No hun...I was playing with you." .."Oh," he said. Anyway, he's doing fine. He was happy to tell me all about jumping out of helicopters and various other things that make me pray to God that he remembers his kids when he is diving head first out of a moving air-craft. They only get one day a week while they're there in Korea to do personal stuff, he said, which is why I haven't heard from him since last week. I hope this coming week goes by quickly so I can hear his voice again.

So I took the car in to have a tire looked at. I thought I had a flat like a week ago, but I filled it up with air and it seemed fine. But this morning when I went to check it out it was flat again. It had a nail stuck in it. And of course they couldn't just plug the hole...When they tried the tire just fell apart. So instead I had to spend $65 and have a new tire put on it. Oh yeah, and try chasing an entirely too enthusiastic three year old around a tire store with a screaming colicky baby bouncing in your arms. I'm sure it was good for entertainment. Those nice guys seemed entirely too bored before we got there. Anthony was covered in lovely black dust by the time we left.

Wow...I just checked out how long this post is. Wow. Well it's been a few days. Things build up I guess.

Oh some news. My cousins husband left for the Middle East like last week. They asked for prayers. She's due with their baby pretty soon. And then her sisters husband is in the hospital with pancraeitis (sp?). So we're supposed to pray for him too.

Maybe I'll post again tomorrow...if I get time and this thing is working!