Chinese New Year

Blaise had a big Chinese New Year celebration at his school last week. All the parents were invited to go and to watch the parade. It was so cute. Avery LOVED the parade. She couldn't stop clapping and jumping for joy. The smile on her face was contagious!!! Blaise got to be under the dragon for the first part of the parade, and then the second part of the parade he was a noise maker.

Lately it's been tough being a Mommy. It seems like my "baby" - Blaise - and I just go rounds.

It's not nearly as fun to play house now as it was when I was little, playing with baby dolls.

My baby dolls didn't roll their eyes at me. They didn't talk back. They didn't hit their sibling baby dolls. They were happy. They didn't whine. They didn't freak out. They didn't make me want to scream and yell and throw them . . . . . and with them, if I WANTED to throw them, I could!

He's only 8. What happened to "EIGHT IS GREAT!?" Did that skip us? I almost feel like I should delete this, because heaven forbid someone thinks I just think my kid is rotten. That is so not the case. He has way more good qualities than bad. I just can deal with his good qualities better than his bad.

I just am at a lost of what to do. I got a book over the weekend, that seems like it is a good one, it helps parents to better help their children that tend to over-react, to freak out, to think life is un-fair, and the one's that just don't ever seem happy. I'm hoping that I can get some good ideas from it.

I know he is a good kid, I sometimes think that his behavior is because I am a bad Mom. He gets bored easily, so maybe I should entertain him more. He freaks out very easily, so maybe I should try to ease situations so they aren't so "new" to him. He gets emotional easy, and I don't think I react the best. Sometimes I feel embarrassed at how he acts, and I shouldn't. I should try to be more understanding, not more demanding. He likes things a certain way, he always has, even when he was little he had to step 3 times on the car before he could get in, and if we interrupted his routine he would come un-glued and have to start over. So this is nothing new, I just thought I would have figured out how to deal with it better by now, and I haven't.

I know that some of the things we are dealing with - "the attitude" - comes with his age and him wanting to test his independance and boundries. I just need to keep on "keeping on!" I just hope that I can do it in a way to encourage him, and not the opposite. I need for him to know how much he is loved, how important he is and how family is the most important thing. I don't want him to feel like he can't come to me. I want him to feel comfortable in his own shoes, in his decisions, and with life. I want him to KNOW that I love him, even when he acts up, or when I over re-act. I want him to know that he is a good boy, a loving kid, funny, artistic, and such a joy to my life. He gave me purpose. He made my heart grow more than I thought it could. He was the one that helped me to build my testimony. He has taught me more about life, love and myseslf more than he will ever know. He is one of the most precious gifts ever given to me.

He is worth the eye rolls, the back talk, the fighting. Because at the end of the day, when we say our good-nights, give hugs and I listen to his prayer, I hear my baby speaking to his Heavenly Father, and I know that we can do another day.