Children win at Christmas

Yesterday, on Ben's day off, we went out to pick out our Christmas tree. We usually try to go on an outing on my husband's day off. When we got there, we were approached by a photographer from the local newspaper (The Ledger). He wanted to capture a family picking out a tree. It definitely made the experience novel and even more worth the work of wrangling Calvin. Calvin was more than overjoyed by all of the leaf-blower, wagons, and buckets containing chemicals that he continually tried to play with.

When we arrived home, Ben proceeded to pull all of the Christmas decor out of the attic while I nursed Ethan in the garage and Calvin ran around trying to turn the grill on, pull saws out, and climb up the steps to the attic himself.

Swinging with Daddy after the tantrum.

When everything had been brought inside, we pulled out the first Christmas item to set out - Ben's train set. Upon seeing it, Calvin could not contain his demands to have it. The tantrum that followed was unparalleled in our home. The temptation just to appease him was so very strong. I spent the next twenty minutes in his room trying to at least distract with some of his own toys and books. He calmed down while we were reading Moosestache (a book about a moose with an amazing and problematic mustache that he relentlessly tries to tame). When he calmed down, Ethan started voicing his unhappiness.

The stress of that long, long hour permeated the rest of the day until a dear friend came over so that Ben and I could go on our second date since having Ethan.

"Humble thyself." should be the motto of parenting.