Today was a rough day for Pumpkinhead. I think that a week of no school, new medication (Concerta now) and his cousin and uncle coming in have really thrown him for a loop. His behavior today was horrid. Lots of tantrums, tears and melodrama. My parents took him to buy a tree this morning along with my brother and nephew while my best friend and I went shopping. Then we took Blue Eyes’ daughter to the movies. By the time we got home around 3:30, my mother was at the end of her rope. Then, while Pumpkinhead was outside throwing a fit on the swing because he wasn’t allowed to play with the girl across the street, my nephew (freshly recovered from partially collapsed lung/pneumonia) fell in the pool. Mind you, it was in the mid-70s today. But my mother completely flipped out. She raced out and helped get my nephew out of the pool. Then she physically dragged Pumpkinhead to my room and, when I opened the door, she grabbed his arm and shook him hard while yelling at him. All I saw was the end of it and I knew nothing of the earlier parts of the day. I brought him into my room and cuddled with him in bed, trying to explain that sometimes Mimi gets madder than is called for but inside I was furious that she had treated him that way. He was so scared.

So we all escaped to Blue Eyes’ house for dinner and movies and let my parents be. But when we arrived home and the children were asleep in bed, I had it out with my mother and reminded her that she tends to over-react and that grabbing/shaking my son is NEVER acceptable. We talked/yelled it out for a while. Finally, when we’d come to somewhat of an accord, I came inside and cried while my best friend gave me some good advice. She said that since we are all living together and raising Pumpkinhead while under enormous stress, we need to get together and decide on a discipline plan for him that each of us can follow consistently. I’m going to sit down with them tomorrow or Sunday and discuss this because I cannot keep allowing such outbursts to occur. This was a frustrating day parenting-wise.