Otis is a Bully. Our Trip to the Museum.

Otis woke up from his nap yesterday in a funk.  Days like that, I know to leave the house as soon as possible to get his mind off whatever is making him crabby.  Usually a walk or a trip to the store will be enough to turn his mood.  Yesterday we decided to go to the Public Museum. 

It did not go well. 

As soon as we got there, Otis did not want to be in the stroller.  Which is fine, run off some steam, go look and explore.  Except he didn't want to walk, either.  He'd go all jelly legs and throw his head back.  So I set him down on the floor, where he commenced the temper tantrum.  This happened at least four times.  It seems the only thing he wanted to do was push the stroller, which is too high for him to reach the handle.  Which does not matter to a one and a half year old, he wants what he wants and he wants it RIGHT NOW. 

At one point, there was a group of school kids nearby.  An 8 year old boy came up near where Otis was screaming.  Otis looked up at him, stood up, and gave a mighty push right in the poor kid's stomach.  My baby don't take no shit!  The kid looked a little dumbfounded, like "did I just get beat up by a baby??"  I think that was the point we decided to leave.  We have a membership, we can always go back some other day...

I am a little worried, for real, about how to deal with Otis.  He is very frustrated lately about not being able to communicate.  We tried signing with him like we did with Ingrid, but he just never did it.  So now we are faced with grunts and points and lots of mad tears.  I feel for him, I do, it must suck to want something and have no way of getting your point across.  But I can't take much more of this hitting, shoving, kicking, and tantrums, and I know it's only gonna get worse.  Terrible Twos are real, ya'll.  I've been there.  I remember thinking Ingrid was being a brat and then she turned two and it was game on.  I'm scared for my future.

Anyway, we did have a little fun while at the museum.  Ingrid got a butterfly to land on her in the butterfly garden.  She thought it was cool at first but quickly decided she wanted it off right now.

  She also enjoyed the Streets of Old Milwaukee section, which has always been my favorite, too.  I felt kind of bad, she was having a good time and then little bro acted up and we had to go.  Boo.

Here's hoping today will be better.

Homeschooling After All

Ingrid is home right now, playing with fabric and her stuffed animals.  We just did puzzles together and read in bed while Otis is napping.  She's not sick, it's not a day off.  We just didn't send her back to school after the holiday break.  I couldn't be happier.

The past month or so has been very trying.  Lots of temper tantrums and crying, lots and lots of yelling on all of our parts.  I felt a real disconnect and was just not happy.  I didn't understand why my daughter was acting out, why our house felt so stressful, why my life felt like nothing was getting done. 

And then we had the holiday break, and after our travels to MI and the kids getting over sickness (more or less) things calmed down.  We had our nice slow mornings of coffee, breakfast, playing, reading, games, and happiness.  Otis' naptime was time for Ingrid and I to spend together, or for her to have rest time and me to get things done.  There was peace in the house, there were so few temper tantrums I've almost forgotten how horrible they were.  Tears are still there sometimes, but only when it's time to eat or rest. 

So when school started back up again, we just decided not to send her back.  Instead, we painted.

And then threw the kids in the bath with some shaving cream to "paint" with.

And did more puzzles.

And went to story time, which Otis LOVED!  He thought singing songs and clapping hands was pretty okay. 

We'll try again in the fall, but if it gets back to being that stressful, forget it.  I used to wonder if I could be a homeschooler, if I had the patience, or could follow through with it, but now I know I can do it if it's what's right for us.