Momma Said There'd be Days Like This...

Happy first day of May, the National Day of Prayer. Joshua needed prayer today. So did I. Last night he was up from 3:30 until almost 6 am when we finally put him back in his crib to cry himself back to sleep. When he woke up, he had a cut on his lip. I guess he scratched himself, even though his nails are fairly short. After an okay morning, we left to go to Julie's house to play with Jude (& Kate, of course!) and have lunch together. I had a great time catching up, and hearing that Julie is doing well with having two little ones gives me much hope for the near future.

Unfortunately, Joshua's behavior was horrendous! He's so not used to sharing. Whenever Jude would take a toy that he had been playing with or was his from his diaper bag, he would throw himself to the ground and bang his head (or bang his head on the coffee table). He did NOT want to share and this was how he expressed himself...the entire time we were there. From cheerios to balls to trucks...of course anything being played with was more interesting than the other bazillion toys available and he could not get calmed down. He ate pretty well, but I was so embarrassed by this outbreak of behavior; and I was having a difficult time trying to stay calm myself. I know that we're to work on re-directing his behavior, but I truly felt he needed a good spanking...however, I know that pain isn't something that makes him think & act better (obviously since banging your head is about the most painful thing you can do!). In this picture above, Jude was mimicking Joshua and you can tell it really hurts. Joshua does it even harder, and the tears show that he's in pain. Still, he persisted with it.

I had thought we were doing better with it, but I'm guessing that what works well in a one-on-one situation does not work when there are other people & kiddos involved in the frustration. I don't know. I was very overwhelmed with disappointment as we left. He promptly fell asleep in the car (it was nap time by this point) and then had an explosion in his diaper when we walked in the door. I don't know if part of it was him being tired and not feeling well...I don't think these are valid excuses for his behavior, but I understand that if kids have something else "off," it can trigger them not being able to behave as well and control themselves in certain situations. I've never seen Joshua go off the deep end this many times in a row. He was all banged up and bruised 'til we left. Sad times. He only slept for about an hour this afternoon and woke up somewhat grumpy. But, he got somewhat better as the evening wore on. It wouldn't shock me if he had a headache.

Please pray that Joshua learns how to share, learns how to communicate his frustration in ways other than headbanging, and that I would have more patience and grace in helping him redirect this behavior. Also pray that he stops hurting himself and ask the Holy Spirit to infiltrate his entire being to where he produces the 'juicy fruit' of the Spirit when he feels he's being squeezed...

Thanks for inviting us over, Julie! Sorry it wasn't such a great day! Hopefully we can do it again sometime, though, and things will go better!