Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Enough is enough

Saturday was another busy day. We got back from Eastbourne with the kids at around 10:30 Friday night and I got to bed around 11:30, up again at 6am.

Our eldest had a swimming lesson at 10:30 and all the kids went to a birthday party for a friend from nursery at 3pm.

They enjoyed the party but, overtired toddlers out of their heads on sugar are not good for my blood pressure.

At about 6:30pm I've calmed the girls down to get them ready for bed and I'm trying to do the same with my son. He has very different ideas though, throwing his toys around, screaming punching etc. A real tantrum.

I almost lost it with him but managed to walk away. I had to get out of the house to cool down and wandered around the village for a bit.

I'd strolled down one of the public footpaths that cut across fields. It passes through the back of the church graveyard, the new bit where the recent burials are. All these graves are still well tended, fresh flowers and gleaming headstones.

One of them was for a young boy, who was born on 4th August 2004. There were fresh flowers and a little stone teddy bear. As his birthday had just passed there was a new present for him, a shiny red fire engine wrapped in a little blue ribbon.

It made me cry and was just the jolt I needed to put things in perspective. My son might be a little sod when he's tired and full of sugar but I still have him and I'm so lucky.

I walked back home to give him a cuddle but he'd already gone to sleep so I just crept in the room and kissed his forehead.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A smack is not child cruelty if it does not break the skin. Discipline your boy or he will be an ASBO child by the time he is seven.