So we are trying to raise a boy....

There is a lovely book my mom gave me on raising boys....So You Want to Raise a Boy by W. Cleon Skousen. It is full of valuable information on boys and different developmental stages they go through so you can check to see if you have ruined your boy or if they are completely normal. I am happy to report, my oldest is completely normal according to the book. :)

...his reactions often seem to be out of focus. He seems to be perpetually launching some kind of crash program to obscure his problems instead of methodically working them out. His parents observe that his emotions continually run to extremes.

Sometimes he will get so mad at me for the smallest thing that he'll open our garage door and slam it shut just to show how angry he is, and when it's not a loud enough slam, he'll do it again until it satisfies his point....(this is just to point out the extremes of the emotions of the 6 year old).

In review of the last week or so - I will begin this post with the afore quote in mind....

STORY NUMBER 1:
Hunter was asked to go gather Ziplock bags full of leaves for caterpillars...I think to myself...okay harmless, gather leaves be outside love life, etc. In a while he comes back - bag full and some of the leaves gorgeous - like from nice plants....so the questions begin:

Mom: Where did you get those nice big leaves?
Hunter: Over there.
Mom: Well, they look like they might be from someone's yard.
Hunter: No, they are from a plant.
Mom: Okay.

So I drop it and proceed to chase my other boy around the block while he rides his bike...On my venture with that boy, I see in the neighbor's yard the very leaves that I saw in Hunter's bag....It was an AH-HA moment. So, I get home and ask him if they are the same leaves off the plant in Lois' yard....

Hunter: How did you know?
Mom: I saw them.
Hunter: Yeah...friend name told me to pick them.
Mom: Do you think that was a happy choice?
Hunter: No, but she told me to pick them and keep them.
Mom: Well, now we have to go talk to Lois and tell her you picked her plant leaves.

So, upset as he was for listening to his friend...he walked over to Lois' house and told her he picked some leaves off of her plant. She was very sweet about it. He came home and saw the friend and asked her if she went and apologized....and her reply and unsurprising - No, why would I? Hunter was so mad. I was proud of him for stepping up and taking care of his mistake.

STORY NUMBER 2:
Hunter was helping mop the floor and spilled two bowls of cereal off the counter onto the newly scrubbed floor...when I asked him to clean it up he said No. I told him he could clean it up or go spend an hour in his room. Keep in mind this was after about 15 minutes of arguing with the 6 year old and being yelled at by the little dude. Finally, at his witts end...he says to me, "Mom, you never clean up any of my messes...." WHAT!? So, he spent the next hour in his room.

AND FINALLY ...

STORY NUMBER 3:
Travis was out of town. I was bathing the kids because it was time - they were stinky. Hunter is old enough that he can shower or bathe himself without my help. It's lovely. I asked him to shower while I bathed the other two...and he proceeded to literally lay on the floor and throw a huge fit rolling around and everything....nice....anyway, after about 10 minutes of that and begging to take a bath rather than a shower I finally told him to just go to bed (on brand new clean sheets changed that day) and do it in the morning- it was a hard thing for me to do putting a dirty kid to bed on clean sheets....but he was still mad....and chanted at me "mommy hates me, daddy loves me...."etc.etc. over and over. I am used to this because I know he does the opposite to Travis when he makes him mad and I'm not home. He ended up showering in the morning and all was fine and forgotten.

BUT ALAS...
We love the boy - we try every day to do our best as parents. He reminds me so much of a caterpillar trying to escape the cocoon and become a butterfly independent of any help. He wants to break free. Yesterday was his Kindergarten celebration and he did a fantastically cute job! We love HUNTER!

This is marching into the gym....they were supposed to be dancing.

This is their signs during "What a Wonderful World" Hunter is bottom row left, with a world.

Dancing during another one of their songs...on the risers.

My camera took blurry pictures...not sure why....maybe because I was in the back....