Bad, Bad evening

NOT a good night last night. S was in a mood, and the entire house was shaken pretty much to the rafters because of it.

I really dislike him when he gets irrational and ridiculous. Part of me realizes that he isn’t able to regulate his impulses the way a ‘normal’ person does, but the other part of me is just feeling “This has gotten really old, really fast.”

It all started when Hubby asked S to come up and set the table for dinner. The A-man had been MIA since I got home from work, so I couldn’t ask him to give me a hand. Neither of them had emptied the dishwasher before I got home from work, but I didn’t say anything – I figured I would address it during dinner.
Anyway, when S was asked to come up and set the table, his reply to Hubby was, “When this show is done.” (Not the best answer to provide to Hubby when he is on a time line, and knows that dinner is ready to be on the table.)
Hubby came up and told me that he and I would be eating, but since both boys were otherwise occupied, they would not be joining us. He then put out two plates on the table.
A few minutes later, S comes up and asks why there are only two plates. Hubby explained that since he and his brother were too busy to help out around the house, they were obviously too busy to join their parents for dinner.

KABOOM!

I am not going to go into how the next hour of my life went, but suffice it to say, it is not one I want to repeat any time soon. Towards the end of it all, I had lost my patience, I will admit. I didn’t scream and yell like I would have five years ago, but I was not the calming influence I am sure S needed. I am glad that these happen less frequently than they used to, but I will admit I am not used to the feelings I experience when he is having an explosion.

As it turns out, I was to blame for the entire event apparently. See, I had woken him up in the morning, and the entire day was the “worst day of (his) entire life.” Yeah, I didn’t buy that either. (The little devil on my shoulder wanted me to say to him, “The worst day of your life SO FAR…” but I resisted that unnecessary comment.)

So no, I didn’t buy that I was to blame; just like I didn’t buy that he had ‘accidentally’ taken the laser pointer to school – and got in trouble by his teacher - nor that he had ‘accidentally’ threw a ball on the roof of the school – and got his friends upset with him.

I think further discussions will happen tonight – once he is no longer in the heat of the moment, we are often able to discuss things much more rationally than when he is. This morning was a much better morning for us than yesterday was, too, so that bodes well for a better day.
Here’s hoping.