Max awoke in a good mood around 8:20 this morning, so we had only a little time before we had to get him ready for school. Mama laid out a collared shirt and jeans for him. Grandpa made sure his jeans had razor-sharp creases. The little fellow looked so good that I had to take a few pictures.
While Max was at school I washed our van and helped Grandpa move a chifforobe from the top floor of his garage. The chifforobe was made in 1942 and is destined for Mimi and Grandpa’s house in South Georgia.
When I picked up Max at school he was telling the woman who brought him to the van that he was going to get (HO-scale) Spencer and Diesel today. I told him that if he didn’t pull a vegetable at school today, which is what he and his classmates have to do if they get into trouble, we’d go to the train store after school to pick up Spencer and Diesel. We bought these two engines a few weeks ago and left them to get digital decoders installed so Max and I could operate multiple trains from the same controller.
I asked Max if he pulled a vegetable today and he said he didn’t. He was right. He didn’t pull a vegetable. He pulled two of them, one for hitting and one for pushing. I didn’t know this until late this afternoon.
After school we went to TrainMaster and not only picked up Spencer and Diesel, but dropped off Thomas so he could get a decoder installed into him, too. And we bought enough track to put another oval around the oval he already has. We did all of this and he’d pulled two vegetables at school.
When it came time to leave TrainMaster Max had a minor meltdown. I told him that if he melted down again, he wouldn’t get to play with Spencer and Diesel today. Well, when we got home he hit me when he was getting out of the van. He was angry because I wouldn’t let him open Spencer and Diesel in our basement garage. As a punishment for hitting me I told him he’d have to wait until after his nap to play with Spencer and Diesel. It was while he was napping when I checked his school folder to confirm his behavior. I felt terrible. I had rewarded him richly today after he’d exhibited the same behavior that landed his trains in timeout all weekend.
Oh, well. I don’t know what else to do at this point other than keep on dishing out the punishment when the little fellow misbehaves. I’ll escalate the punishment, too, until his behavior is more reasonable.
As I write this he’s in Mama’s lap watching YouTube videos of the ship we’re going to sail on this summer. He’s in a great mood and understands that he has to have a good day at school tomorrow to be able to play with Spencer and Diesel when he gets home.
Tonight I told him that from now on when we ask him if he pulled a vegetable, he has to tell us the truth or he’ll get double the punishment.
Even though I had the wool pulled over my gullible eyes today, I’m still happy to have our little buddy home with us tonight. Poor ol’ Grandpa called to ask Max to spend the night with him, but the little fellow wouldn’t budge. I reckon he likes being with his mama and daddy about as much as we like being with him.