I shall never leave during a tantrum without my keys again

My last post was all warm and fuzzy. This one will not be. Today, I had an interview at GSU for a position as a career counselor to law students. More on that later if it comes to pass. While I was interviewing, my kids were at my parents'. After the interview, I met them and my sister and her kids for lunch and a matinee. When we left my parents' house at 5 (after the kids had been with them since 9 am), Evan apparently didn't want to leave. And was throwing a little tantrum in the car. Thankfully, he fell asleep a short distance into the trip, so I thought we were done with the tantrum. But, no. He woke up from the nap still angry and grumpy. I won't go into all the details, but I had told him to go to his room and he just flat-out refused. Since Evan is a sturdy fellow, I have gotten to a point where I cannot physically carry all 45 pounds of him upstairs if he is kicking and screaming... which is where we were at this point. I threatened a spanking, but he kept circling the kitchen island, staying directly on the opposite side so I couldn't touch him. I refuse to chase a child around the island (as entertaining as that image probably is to my readers), so I was at a loss. I was trying to stay calm, so I decided to go get the mail. I would get some air...pray about how to handle the situation...and cool off. As I was at the mailbox, I heard the door close - surely just the wind, right?? And then what sounded like a lock turning. Surely not! I walked back up the front steps and tried the door. Locked. I looked inside to see Evan standing in the kitchen (a good distance from the front door) watching me with his jaw set. I motioned for him to "come here" with a very stern and angry look on my face, but he held his ground. I was losing this battle in a big way.

So, I decided to go next door to the neighbors' house to call Corin. I decided I couldn't wait around because of the safety issue, so I would suck it up and admit to Merri that my child had locked me out. Not a fun admission. So I called Corin and he said he would come home. Merri had this master-key-looking thing that she thought might work on our lock, so I went back to the door to give it a try. I didn't see either child when I first walked up, but as I tried the key Merri had given me, Evan came down the stairs, bawling. I told him again to come unlock the door, and this time he did.

I called Corin back to let him know I was in the house and put him on speakerphone to tell Evan to go to his room. This time he went. He stayed in his room through dinner and much of the evening. He also got a spanking when his father got home. He apologized to me and gave me a big hug. He promised to be a perfect angel for the next 24 hours. So, I guess it is over.

I usually don't make my blog entries interactive, but if any of you wise mommies or daddies out there have any ideas for what I could have done differently, I'd be happy to hear it. Let me stop you from telling me to hide a key outside the house. That kind of advice is fairly useless after the fact. I shall never leave during a tantrum without my keys again.