Last Saturday Manny had a dentist appointment in San Mateo.  Before the appointment John dropped me off (along with Christian and Jackson) at his parents house to wait.

When I went in to grab Jackson after his afternoon nap I was met with an interesting treat.  The child had his diaper pushed down to his knees and he was peeing on his bed.

You want him to burp?  No.

Sleep through the night?  No.

Take a picture with Santa?  Nope.

Pee and poop on the potty?  No.

Talk to Lola on the phone, eat his vegetables, sit still so that the nice lady can cut his hair without chopping off an ear.....  uh-uh.

Naturally this predisposition to completely buck authority is down right frustrating for me and John.  In the beginning we did timeouts, which turned into threats, and when that didn't work we'd breakdown and start yelling.

However, Manny is the kind of kid that when faced with a combative authority figure, he completely shuts down.  If you wanted him to do something before you yelled at him, he definitely won't be doing it now.  In fact, you'll be lucky to even get him to speak to you.

Where am I going with this?  Trust me, I do have a point....

Manny had baseball practice this past Saturday.  To get the kids warmed up the coach has them play catch, either with a teammate or even their parent if one is present.  Manny was playing catch with John and John accidentally tagged him the chest with the ball.

Manny freaked out and started crying.  John was able to get him to calm down, but Manny didn't want to practice anymore.  In fact, he said he didn't even want to play baseball anymore.  Naturally John got frustrated, and that frustration turned into anger when he couldn't get Manny to practice with the team.  So Manny did the exact opposite of what John wanted, instead of running back out to the practice field, he completely shut down; no talking, no eye contact, no compromise.

Eventually he calmed down and started talking with John.  John apologized for getting angry and everything was right in the world.  That is the great thing about Manny.  Once he's done being mad or scared, all is forgiven.

When he got home he was in good spirits.  I asked him if he was ready for practice on Monday and he said that he was.  I think he'll be scared of the ball for a while, but hopefully he'll be able to overcome it.

Christian had his first Tball practice last night and I really don't even know what to say about it, lol.  In short, it was total chaos.

The coach was a little extremely unprepared.  There was no real direction.  When it came time to batting practice, he kinda just told the kids to stand in the outfield without telling them specifically where to stand.  The boys were spastic, running around with the ball in huge groups (think beginner soccer, but with a baseball).

It reminded me of that scene in Kindergarten Cop when Arnold goes insane after the kids wear him down.



Since the Coach doesn't really know the kids yet, I don't think he felt comfortable reprimanding them.  I understand that the theme behind Tball is to have fun, but there needs to be some order as well.  And the parents who were there just let their kids run amok!  I was flabbergasted, and a little frustrated to be honest.

Last year Manny joined mid-season, right before Opening Day, so we missed all of the pre-season practice shenanigans.  John thinks it was the same way with Manny's team last year (as far as he heard from Coach Mike).  I'm not so sure.

It was obvious that the Coach needed some assistance and as soon as John arrived I told him that if there was any way he could help, he should.  So after practice John volunteered to be an Assistant Coach.  I think I'm more excited about it then he is, lol.
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Oh, and they aren't the Brewers anymore.  Apparently the uniform company messed up and made Cubs shirts instead of Brewers shirts.  So now they're the Cubs!

Often times when a child is behaving badly parents need, to find a reason for their child's ill behavior.

They're tired.

They're teething.

They're hungry.

They're sick.

We try and find excuses because having your child throw a massive meltdown temper tantrum in public is downright embarrassing.  If there is a valid reason for your child's behavior it's easier shrug off the judgmental stares.  You don't feel like a bad parent because, duh, your child wouldn't be acting this way if they had taken their nap or eaten their lunch.  Also, if there is a reason for their bad behavior, there's also a way to fix it.

And yes, sometimes there are legitimate reasons for the kicking and screaming.  However, often times (more often then we'd like to admit) there are no reasons.  Your child isn't sick, or teething.  He took his nap (two naps in fact), he just ate and his diaper is dry.

He's just being an ass.


In the last week or so, Jackson has developed this ass-like behavior.  At first I thought it was teething (he has all of the signs) but his behavior didn't get better after giving him tylenol.  I knew he wasn't tired because he was taking naps, and he eats a hearty breakfast and lunch.  There is zero explanation other then he's upset he's not getting his way.

It was lovely taking Manny to school this morning.  I don't know what parent doesn't like having their 18 month old kicking and screaming on the ground while trying to take their kindergartner to school.  Thrashing on concrete is super awesome.  Getting stared at by other parents is super awesome.  Trying to control the madness while getting slapped in the face and kicked is so awesome I can't even think of a suitable synonym that conveys just how awesome it is.

Jackson loves tantrums SO much that he wakes up in the middle of the night throwing them!  Seriously.  It starts off with a small whine.  John and I ignore it thinking he'll put himself back to sleep.  Then, it grows into kicking the wall and velociraptor screeches.  I told John he sounds like Banshee from X-Men.



At this point the only thing we can do is bring him into the living room and let him finish his tantrum.  Once he calms down, he falls right back to sleep (although this didn't happen last night, last night he woke up several more times).

I have no idea what's causing these tantrums.  I'm going to make a doctor's appointment to rule out any medical reasons.  I know that Christian suffered from silent ear infections.  The only symptom he ever had was that he turned into mega grouch.  I'm hoping that there's something like this going on with Jackson.  Again, because then I know how to fix it....there's a light at the end of the tunnel.  If there's no medical reason, that means this is just a phase with no end in site.

If that's the case, lord help me.

I learned yesterday while picking Christian up for school, that he has his first "girlfriend".

Apparently he's confessed his love for her (he told his teacher, "I love Julia."), they held hands the entire day, and even ate lunch together.

Christian also shared his love for food with Julia as he got her to eat her entire lunch, which has never happened.  It's nice to know that my boy is a good influence, at least when it comes to food.

Last night we also learned that Christian is learning the art of smart-assery.

After Manny's baseball practice we made a McDonald's run as I didn't prepare anything in advance for dinner.  When we got home we let the kids eat in front of the tv (a super rare treat).  They watched Boomerang in the play room, while John and I ate in the front room.

Christian came to hang out with John and I when he finished his food.  He crawled up onto the couch accidentally knocking over John's drink.

I should mention that John has had horrible luck with his drinks in the past week, someway or other they manage to get knocked over or spilled.  So John was not too pleased with Christian's mishap.

Christian immediately started apologizing, "I'm sorry Daddy.  Sorry.  It was an accident."  Then followed up with, "But you should have moved your drink."  This smartass comment immediately melted John's icy veneer and my straight faced husband (who prides himself on being able to hold "character" and discipline our children) smiled and started laughing.

Five minutes after Soda Gate, Christian asked me to help him with his happy meal toy.  It was a spin top and he couldn't figure out how to get it to work.  I started to help him by attaching the top to the spinner mechanism (you need to push the top onto this pen-like contraption, and turn the top to tighten the tension, then press a button which releases the top onto the floor).

My first attempt failed.  I tightened the top too much, so it popped off into my hand.  Christian said, in all seriousness "Mommy, you need to practice more."  I looked to John and said, "Well, I guess we know who our smart ass is."

After having two practices cancelled, Manny had his first baseball practice last night.  I apparently committed a major sin.  I had him wear his school uniform shirt to practice which is royal blue (Dodger blue) and he's playing for the Giants.  I promised John that I would do better next time while getting him dressed.  He'll be in orange from head to toe on Saturday, lol.

When signing Manny up for baseball John and I were struggling with whether or not to keep him in Tball or have him graduate to the next level, which is Peanut league.  Since his birthday is in the beginning of March he literally straddles the cutoff age, so I'm sure we could have held him back if we wanted to.  Our concern was that he wouldn't be challenged and would eventually get bored.

He knows how to field the ball (for the most part).  He knows how to throw the ball (for the most part).  He knows how to run the bases, and he knows all of the positions.  His nemesis, his kryptonite, his achilles heal is catching.

I was a nervous ball of energy showing up to his first practice.  I had played up his weakness in my mind so that it consumed me.  I was expecting him to be the only kid out there who couldn't catch the ball.  I was expecting  tiny pro six year old baseball players; 12 pint sized Barry Bonds.

And of course, OF COURSE, the first kids there were the coach's kids....kids who've probably been playing catch before they could walk.  Kids who learned to throw before they were weaned from the bottle or teat.  Kids who could throw someone out at home plate from the warning track in left field.

Fortunately, about three minutes later, the rest of the team started showing up and my fears were assuaged.  It seems as though catching was the rest of the teams achilles heal as well.  They were so bad, in fact, that the entire practice was devoted to defense.

I didn't really get a chance to watch practice since I had to keep the smaller two Bauson's entertained, but John assures me that Manny did get better during practice.  He managed to catch a few balls, and did really well at grounding and throwing.  He'll be practicing three days a week until the season actually starts, so he can only go up from here, and unlike last year, this year he actually enjoys playing catch with John.  Last year it was like pulling teeth to get him to practice.

Tonight is Christian's first Tball practice.  My only goal for tonight is for Christian to actually pay attention and take direction from his coach.  If we can accomplish those two feats, I'll consider it a good practice....wish me luck!