Have you had days like this?
Yesterday was tough.
I decided to bring my kids to the local We Rock The Spectrum, a play place designed for Ausome kiddos but I failed to check their availability at the time.
I walked the boys right up to the front door before realizing there was a sign out front that read, “Private party (for the next 2 hours).”
We had to turn around. That’s when Jonah’s meltdown began. I had to carry him back to the car and force the car door closed.
It was about this time that JONNY’S meltdown began. Jonny cannot abide Jonah’s meltdowns.
Jonny will scream louder than Jonah.
It was about this time I was contemplating my lack of oversight and failure as a parent for not checking or calling ahead of time. I couldn’t go anywhere because Jonah refused to sit back in his seat. (He was actually throwing his booster seat around the car.)
I tried to redirect him by seeing if he wanted to go to the park or the play area at McDonalds.
Nothing worked.
Jonah just didn’t want to go anywhere else. He screamed.
Jonny screamed louder.
This lasted a good half an hour. It started to get muggy in the car so I opened my door a bit to let some fresh air in. Jonny was pleading with Jonah to go to McDonalds.
Nothing doing. Jonah was determined to play HERE.
Jonah climbed into my seat with me. I tried to turn the car on to charge my phone and get some air flowing. My car had a push-button start and Jonah has figured out how to turn it off again.
Every time I started the car, he did just that.
So I found an episode of “Super Simple Songs” on my phone and put it on. That seemed to help Jonah to calm down.
He watched the entire thing.
Almost 2 hours had passed. My phone battery was under 10% when it finished.
I went to turn on the car to charge it. My car wouldn’t start. The battery was dead.
Great. Just what we needed.
Jonah had also just drank an entire water bottle and I hadn’t packed a change of clothes. (Did I mention we are still potty training?)
Mama was still at work so I called my sister to see if she could come give us a jump.
But then I remembered that Jonah STILL wouldn’t want to leave.
But the good news was that the private party had finished (it had been 2 hours) and we could actually go in now.
So we did.
Grammy and Auntie drove out, gave the car a jump and ran it until the car battery was charged, and cane and hung out with Jonah and Jonny for a bit.
I got him to use the restroom there. Twice.
We got to play for a couple hours and then headed home.
Jonah went over, put on his own shoes, and walked with me back to the car.
I have to give a big shout out to my sister and mom for “rescuing us.”
But all that could have been avoided…
Days like yesterday are days when I say “I need a do-over.”
Yeesh.
How about you?