The Boss

I notice that often when people don't know how to react in a situation, they laugh. I find this happen with myself as well. Laughter is a bit of an ice breaker between people that do not know each other. It is very universal and in certain situations says "Hey, I know what you're going through and it's okay. Maybe later you'll see the funny side of the situation too." Today was a day where I had a whole section of a store laughing...or rather, Jari did...

The boys and I went shopping today. It's not something Jari really enjoys and when he's done, he's done. Unfortunately, I wasn't done as I needed to get some quotes on some new curtains. My son does not seem to understand that even though it is nighttime the sun is still shining...and he refuses to go to sleep until it is dark out. So, Erwin and I made the decision to buy some special curtains for his room which block out the light in hopes of getting him to sleep. Well, there was a wait at the curtain counter and we were number three. As the boys ran through all the bolts of material I was getting more and more impatient. Kaeden needed his ritalin and it was very easy to tell at that point. So, after catching them both, I gave them a place to sit on the floor and wait. It went okay fro about two minutes until they started squuezing under all the shelving and pulling off threads that were hanging from the fabric. I had of course separated them, but in their army crawls along the floor, they managed to once again come together in brotherly love. My threats weren't working (as they normally don't...why do I even bother) and I really needed to get this done. I separated them time and time again, and the other customers were watching the entire process. Well, you know how you get those sorta sympathetic smiles, some dirty looks, some comments about how they've been there too...but I was getting mad (in that way that embarrasment makes you)! I knew that I should leave as customer number one was still not finished after a 30 minute wait and we still had two ahead of us. And normally I would have picked them up and walked out...but I had the car today and the store we planned to buy the curtains is a half hour drive from us with no public transport...and I normally do not have the car...so I put on my brave face and waited...UNTIL...

Jari started screaming at the top of his lungs because Kaeden grabbed a piece of his string. Not a normal scream, but deafening...and everyone turned to look. As I placed him back in his spot a bit more forcefully, he says "You are not the boss over me. I'm my own boss." I amswered, "Yes I am the boss. I'm the mommy and you need to listen to me." People quit looking our way but obviously had their ears tuned into the conversation once they saw mama was in "control". Then Jari gives me the eye, yes, that eye that says are you ready to fight and pipes up in his scream "No, YOU are not my boss. PAPA IS!!! He's the boss over our whole house and you too!" The laughter that exploded from all the customers in the store was quite ear shattering in itself...not to mention maddening. They were all giving me smiles and as I smiled back I grabbed the boys and said "TIME TO GO!" I heard the conversations discussing my very loud son as we headed out the door. You know who the boss really is? Yep, JARI! Because he got exactly what he wanted when we left the store...oh boy, where's the nearest parenting class???? Sign me up, PLEASE!!! And don't forget a bit of that laughter as you put my name next to the X...