The Koolaid Fiasco

Before anyone gets freaked out the red is Koolaid and not blood. Unfortunately the carpet upstairs looked just like Noah's clothes. I think I went through at least 10 towels trying to get it out of the carpet, and his face is the reaction to "just wait until Dad sees this!" The good news is that Sugar free Koolaid DOES come out- even in super concentrated quantities- it just takes some effort. I wanted to juxtapose this with his little report card from Preschool that is all excellents and above averages... I think that is part of the reason that stuff like the koolaid fiasco are so infuriating!! We have proof of how smart he is! He uses words like "my teacher is going to be so IMPRESSED" and then he goes and acts like a 4 year old. I love him dearly and want to strangle him at the same time. Last night he asked if we could go to IHOP for dinner. I said, "No, Noah- it is too hard for mommy to take all of you guys to places like that by myself." He thought about it a minute and then said, "It is going to be a lot harder after the baby boy is here." I said, "You're right, we probably are not going to go ANYWHERE for awhile." I thought he would be devastated but instead he was quiet a moment and then said, "Well maybe I could just be in charge of taking care of the baby boy if we go anywhere." It almost made me start crying. He is so sweet and capable that I really do forget that he is only 4. So the hardest part of being a mom are those conflicting emotions you have regarding your children. When to discipline and when to attribute behavior to their age. I don't think we always get it right, especially with the oldest.