Being a parent wasn’t fun today. I believe Max would say his day was okay or even pretty good, but it wasn’t good for me.

He got into trouble at school for talking during circle time and consequently had to pull a vegetable. I had a lollipop waiting for him when I picked him up from school but took it away when I saw that he’d pulled a vegetable. I didn’t take away his trains because I figured talking was a minor infraction compared to acts of aggression.

We went to Granny’s after school so I Max could stay with her while I ran an errand. When I returned, my little buddy was in timeout for being too rambunctious. And then he was rocking too hard in a rocking chair on her front porch and broke a storm window. I’d told him not to rock so hard, but he didn’t listen and that’s when I took his trains away for the rest of the day.

He wanted to stay at Granny’s, so I came on home and let Mama pick him up when she left school. I met them downstairs and when he and I got to the top of our stairs, he threw one of his shoes down the stairs. He wasn’t angry; he was just enjoying throwing things. I told him not to throw the other one but he did so and lost train privileges for tomorrow, too.

We went upstairs to watch a video and when I returned from getting his PediaSure, he’d thrown pillows and blankets, at least one of which had rearranged everything on Mama’s nightstand. I put him down for his nap around 4:00 pm and he awoke shortly after 7:00 pm. He was in a good mood and handled his loss of train privileges without incident. We learned that we’d overlooked his assistant teacher’s, Mrs Sarah’s, birthday, so he and Mama went to the mall to get a present for her. Only Mama came home. Baybay wanted to go to Mimi and Grandpa’s to play with his trainset at their house, and they were glad to have him.

When Mama left she asked the little fellow if he wanted to go home with her or stay at Mimi and Grandpa’s, and he chose to stay at Mimi and Grandpa’s. Grandpa phoned a little while ago to say that Max had eaten well this evening and was well-behaved.

Punishing Max and dealing with his destructiveness has worn me down, but I still wish he were here to snuggle up with Mama and me tonight. I look forward to seeing him again in the morning when I pick him up to take him to school. Hopefully, tomorrow will be easier.

’Twas another day of ups and downs. The little fellow awoke around 8:20 this morning, and it was a job to get him ready for school. He didn’t want to stop watching his videos and get ready.

Today he wore jeans and a red shirt with white stripes “Heart Breaker” embossed on the front. He looked so cute.

When I picked him up from school, we were going to TrainMaster to pick up Max’s HO Thomas who’d received a digital upgrade. Going to the train store was predicated upon Max’s not pulling a vegetable at school today, which is what he and his classmates have to do if they get into trouble. When Max got into the van I asked him if he’d pulled a vegetable and he said he had, but when I checked his folder, he had a sticker, which indicates good, or at least acceptable, behavior.

So off to Trainmaster we went. We carried Spencer in for what turned out to be another quick fix to keep is forward wheels attached. We stayed in the store for about an hour before heading home. Surprisingly, we left the store without incident, which may have been a first. Max loves playing with the three wooden railways in the store. Today I introduced him to the store’s owner, Scott, and pointed out the Scott’s the one who fixes his trains. Baybay was impressed.

We had a pretty good time at home and I probably kept Max up too long. He got cranky and aggressive and I told him we were going upstairs to watch a video on our media player and to settle down for his nap. He couldn’t handle stopping his train play and began hitting me. I warned him about hitting me and he continued, so he lost train privileges for the rest of the day. It was around 3:00 pm when I finally got him down for his nap, and he was awake by 6:00 pm, though thankfully in a good mood.

He and Mama went to Mimi and Grandpa’s for dinner and the little fellow put up a bit of a fight when he first arrived. He wanted to play with his trains at Mimi and Grandpa’s and not have dinner. Mimi and Grandpa made him come to the table, and that didn’t go well, at least initially.

Grandpa’s been gone for eight days and Max is spending the night with him and Mimi tonight. I’m going to miss our little snuggle buddy tonight and look forward to seeing him in the morning.

Today wasn’t bad. I had to go to my sleep doctor (actually a sleep dentist) to get my SUAD device adjusted, and Granny kept Max while I was gone. I stopped by the train store on my way back to get a couple of bridges and some foam pins, and when Baybay learned where I’d been, he was excited.

I phoned Granny from the road to check on Max and she said his behavior had been “fair,” and when I arrived he was in timeout. He was a happy, very excited fellow while I was there and was eager to get home so we could work on his “moddy wailwoad.”

When we got home he was still excited but soon was irritable and prone to tantrums. I don’t know how he evaded going down early for his nap and having his trains taken away for the rest of the day, but he did. When it came time for him to go into his bed for a nap, I asked him if he had a dirty diaper. He said he didn’t, but I knew better. I warned him about going into his bed for a long nap with poop on his skin. I told him he’d be raw and in pain. That did the trick. The little fellow picked up his potty, took it to his diaper-changing table, and used the potty as a step stool to get up on the table by himself.

As I was changing his diaper he acted as if he were going to get sick and throw up. I thought he was reenacting a Fireman Sam character’s difficulty breathing during a fire. I was wrong. The poor boy heaved up both bottles of PediaSure and made one heck of a mess. I put him into our shower and washed both of us. I finished cleaning the mess while we waited for Mama to get home. Baybay was in a great mood when Mama arrived, but when she told him he was going to go down for his nap, he threw a major tantrum.

And when he awoke from his nap nearly four hours later he was still in a foul mood. But when Mama suggested that they go to Mimi’s and play with trains, his mood turned completely around. Mama called from Mimi’s and said the little fellow was a happy camper.

They’re still at Mimi’s as I write this, but they’re about to come home and we’re going to pile into our bed and watch something on our media player, maybe Major Payne.

It’s been a pretty good day for Mr Max. He wished me a good morning around 7:20 am and had a good day at school. Unlike last week, this week he was privileged to choose a prize from his class’s treasure box. He chose a very bouncy ball and was delighted with his selection.

We played with his HO engines Spencer and Diesel when we came home, and then had some lunch. During lunch he melted down and lost train and iPad privileges until after his nap. During the transition from downstairs playing and having lunch to settling down upstairs, he had another meltdown and lost the privilege of seeing a video before his nap. The little fellow was down for his nap at 1:55 pm.

He awoke around 5:00 pm and was ready to get right back to his trains. Mama was drained when she came home about the same time, so we shipped Baybay off to Mimi’s and I went to the train store to pick up a few provisions for Max’s model railroad. I bought a pair of incline sets for elevating the track, some plaster cloth, and trackbed. Then I went to Home Depot for other building supplies for his model railroad.

I missed a couple of necessary items at the train store and will have to return tomorrow. At this point of building his first model railroad layout, we’re going to glue the insulated sheathing to the fiber board, set and glue the risers in place, cover the risers with plaster, paint the plaster, glue trackbed on top of the plaster and risers, and glue and set track on the trackbed.

Gee, now that I look at this list, I’m afraid it could be a couple of weeks before his track is ready to use. When I headed to the train store, I was hoping to have it done before I went to bed tonight. I wish Grandpa weren’t in South Georgia right now. He’s the perfect person put a construction project into the fast lane.

This is a very simple layout. Its theme is Thomas & Friends and will feature two concentric ovals with a two or three sidings for freight and passengers. It may also feature Tidmouth Sheds and a turntable if I can figure out how to fit those onto the 4′ × 8′ space.

Mimi hardly could get Max to eat anything while he stayed with her. He was focused on his trains and didn’t want to do anything else. Once I ran an errand for Mama and unloaded everything at home, I went to Mimi’s to pick up my favorite little buddy.

When we returned to home he was excited to see things for working on his model railroad. I don’t think a double cappuccino would have revved him up any more. Mama and I are exhausted and hope our little buddy will settle down. They’re upstairs watching a Fireman Sam video as I write this.

Last night we didn’t watch Major Payne. The movie didn’t encode properly and its video was useless, so we watched The Adventures of Milo & Otis instead. Milo & Otis isn’t an animated film, so we didn’t know how well Baybay would adjust to it. The film is a narrated story of a dog and cat and Max loved it. We didn’t finish it last night because we began watching it so late, but it’s what Max asked to watch this morning after I changed his diaper. He asked to see the movie again tonight, but we’re trying to get him to watch something shorter so we can catch up on our rest.

We’ve enjoyed another good day—well, most of it. Max awoke around 7:45 this morning and was ready to go to Mimi’s to play with his trains there. I told him we had to go to school first and he protested, but soon he was eager to go see his friends and teachers.

He had a good day at school and got the sticker to prove it. A dentist visited his school today and gave them nice goody bag, including some mouthwash. They tried the mouthwash at school, and Mama asked him tonight if he was going to try it here at home. He said, “No, that’s yucky.” When I picked him up he had his mind set on trains at Mimi’s, so off we went. I came home and had my mind set on peace and quiet, but when our notebook Mac wouldn’t charge I was frustrated. I tried positioning the AC adapter in every way I could, gave up, and made an appointment at the Apple store to get a replacement.

While I was at the Apple store getting a replacement AC adapter Max melted down at Mimi’s, tore apart his track, and on his way to timeout he tried to tear up a few other things. Mimi tried to bring him home, but I wasn’t here. She phoned me and in about fifteen minutes I pulled into her driveway to pick him up. I didn’t have to wait at all. I didn’t even have to go in. Mimi was waiting with the Baybay in her garage and promptly sent him out to the van as I pulled up. I know how she felt. She put his trains in timeout at her house and I’m glad she did.

I brought home my little terrorist, fed him some Cheez-Its and PediaSure, and then put him down for his nap.

When he came downstairs after his nap, his mind was set on trains again, so the three of us gathered around his HO train table and watched Spencer and Diesel make laps. I don’t know what I did wrong, but he pushed me away from the table and I went downstairs to vacuum out the van and wipe down the mats. Baybay summoned me from the top of the stairs to go “mash” his “dinger” (finger). I told him I wasn’t going to mash his finger, but then it dawned on me what he meant. He wanted me to help him push the buttons on his railroad’s controller.

The little fellow ate a good portion of his grilled cheese this evening and promptly returned to his train table. He and Mama just went upstairs to get their baths, and if they get out in time, we’re going to watch some of Major Payne for the first time. I bought the DVD because I wanted to give Max a visual for the discipline he’s going to encounter if he doesn’t straighten up.

Mama and I are glad he’s home tonight and we’re looking forward to snuggling up with him. Going to bed at night is Mama’s and my favorite part of the day.

We enjoyed a much better day today. Max had a good day at school and made lots of art for me. It was Art Day at school and it looks as though he was quite busy in the short time he was at school.

We went to Granny’s after school for lunch, and on our way he said he wanted classmates Hannah, Parker, Mayzie, and Noah to go with us on our Disney cruise. We had a pretty good time at Granny’s. We watched a Barney video and played frisbee outside.

It was time for Baybay’s nap when we got home and he napped for nearly four hours before Mama went in to get him. He awoke in a great mood and ready to play with his trains.

Mimi came over for a visit this evening and Max begged to go home with her to play with his trains at her house. She agreed to let him go to her house tomorrow after school, and the little fellow wasn’t keen on her leaving without him. He recovered quickly, though, and had dinner. He and Mama just went upstairs to get their baths, and then we’re going to pile into bed together and watch something on our media player.

Grandpa brought the little fellow home this morning around 9:30. Max went straight to his HO train table and got Spencer and Diesel running. He even operated the Digital Command Control box by himself. He hasn’t mastered it yet (nor have I), but he can push the “LOCO” button, then press the number of the engine he wants to control, and press “LOCO” a second time to make his choice take effect.

The little fellow was irritable this morning and served a few timeouts. We were going to go to Monkey Joe’s today, but Max lost that treat as well as train privileges for the rest of the day as consequences for his aggressive and destructive behavior.

He was tired and hungry and drank two bottles of PediaSure when I took him upstairs early for his nap. We watched a Fireman Sam video and then came back downstairs because he said he wanted to eat Cheez-Its. He didn’t eat many but asked for another bottle of PediaSure, of which he drank half.

I took him up to bed and he napped for a little more than four hours. He awoke in a good mood but has been rambunctious and willful all evening.

This morning was a challenge that got me down and out for the rest of the day. I hope for a better day tomorrow.