Vent Blog!

Every now and then, a mom just has to vent! This is one of those times.

This last weekend was very difficult for us with Iraq. Perhaps it is the change in the schedule, the change in schools, the change in weather... I don't know for sure, but something has upended the delicate balance in a BIG way. Now, I don't want to mislead you - we really don't have much of a balance, but we do our best to keep things as calm as possible. As of late, all the "calm" has left the building.

The weekend was filled with tantrums, screaming, crying, repeated misbehavior... you name it. We stay very consistent in our house - each behavior is dealt with as it happens, every time. It was exhausting to keep up with to say the least.

Today when Iraq came home from school, she had her first homework. My stomach dropped a bit, remembering what all we had to go through last year to get homework done. I made light of it in my mind, and proceeded as if this was the most exciting thing to arrive home from second grade since someone invented the "grass-in-a-cup" project.

Iraq was NOT to be fooled. She had a very different reaction than I - - much as if she had discovered somebody packed a skunk in her book bag. And the screaming began.

I have just come down stairs after no less than an hour trying to get the homework done. We got about half of it done, and I have scratches on my arms, almost lost an eye to a flying pencil (no less than 3 times) spent about 10 minutes barricaded in the bathroom with a crazed and shrieking 7-year-old on the other side of the door while I quietly explained over and over that I would come out as soon as she stopped screaming and flailing...

I finally got her settled down just enough to do some math problems which I know darn well she can do quite easily. She did the same type of math last year and this is clearly just review. (Really - I should be receiving hazard pay for this). Every few math problems saw another major freak-out-break-down...

Once the math was finished with a huge amount of praise and the reward of letting her poke my nose after each problem had been done correctly, it was time for the spelling words. It should have been simple - write each word 3 times. This is not rocket surgery, people! (yes - that's a joke).

After subjecting myself to her escalating tirade for another few minutes, I couldn't handle it (calmly) any more. In a stroke of (what I hoped would be genius) I asked Broadway to help Iraq. NO DEAL!

Now Iraq has been physically locked into her room. I feel like I have her in a cage, and I don't like the feeling, but the situation has actually grown dangerous for me as well as The Skink and Broadway. I am hoping she will calm down as I write this. Of course I HAVE to get her to finish her homework... not doing so (regardless of the threat it can mean to my life) would simply be rewarding this Armageddon-size tirade of  universal proportions.

So not looking forward to the next hour...

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