Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005

7:10 p.m.

just when you think you have things figured out, you realize you were just fooling yourself.

thought i had worked out the problems with the babysitter. actually, it's the way my kids act around the babysitter.

i left the house today for a few hours to shop for school clothes/supplies and drop off my latest set of quizzes. of course, before i left i made the muchkins promise to "be good" for A (the discipline-challenged 12-year-old next-door neighbor).

when i got home, A was crying. as a general rule, it's not a good thing when the babysitter is crying. turns out, KidOne was swinging something or other around, A told him to stop, he refused, she told him to go to time out, he started screaming at the top of his lungs, she left the room and started crying.

moments later, i arrived. i immediately sent the offending child to his room (after another screaming fit). later, i made the little hooligan go over to A's house and apologize "like a big boy." then immediately sent him back to his room.

here's my problem....i can not stand the screaming thing (probably most of the reason he does it). it's the kind of bloodcurdling sound that makes you want to throttle the kid. it's like a fight or flight response. every fiber of my being is shouting "make that horrible noise stop!" i have no idea where he gets it from, all i know is it has to stop!

A is supposed to watch the kids for a few hours again tomorrow.

pray for me.